Minister's Speech

Remarks prepared for:

The Honourable John Gerretsen
Minister of the Environment

Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and the Environment (CPCHE)

Tuesday, December 16, 2008, 7:05 P.M.

(Check against delivery)

Thank you Bob, for that kind introduction.

(Minister introduced by Bob Oliver, Executive Director, Pollution Probe)

I’m pleased to be here this evening.

Our government is proud to have partnered with the CPCHE in the cross-country consultations resulting in the Vision and Strategy document, which we will be hearing about from Erica Phipps in just a few minutes.

Since the beginning, our government has made the health of families, particularly children, our most important priority.

This is not something that we view as a separate or isolated environmental initiative.

Our work on reducing toxics in our air, land and water is integral to our overall environmental goals.

From protecting our sources of drinking water, restoring Lake Simcoe and the Great Lakes to a healthy state, working to clean the air we breathe and fighting climate change, building a new framework to manage our waste and reducing toxics in our environment — it’s a new roadmap for environmental protection in Ontario.

Reducing toxics in our air and water

Many of you may already be aware of our Toxics Reduction Strategy, but I want to give more context on this initiative and explore the ways we are addressing “toxics” in other areas of the Ministry of the Environment.

We have been working on many fronts to reduce the amount of toxics going into our environment.

For example, we’ve set 19 new or updated air standards for 14 air toxics, including lead.

We have also implemented new province-wide regulatory requirements to protect children from exposure to elevated lead levels that may be present in the plumbing of older neighbourhoods, schools and day-care centres. 

We’ve instituted a successful program to flush plumbing systems to deal with the lead issue in schools.  That program is working well.

In partnership with the federal government we’ve been investing in cleaning up contaminated areas in the Great Lakes such as the remediation of Randle Reef in Hamilton Harbour. 

We are aspiring to a philosophy of “zero-waste” for our province and we have approved new industry-funded waste diversion programs including a program for Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste and Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment.

These programs will help prevent potentially toxic components, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium from going into our landfills or down the drain.

Pesticides Act

One of the first concrete steps in our Toxics Reduction Strategy came with the province-wide ban on Cosmetic Pesticides, passed by the legislature in June.

This is an important move forward to help protect Ontario’s children and families from any potential risks associated with the unnecessary use of pesticides on lawns, gardens and playgrounds.

I’d like to acknowledge the tremendous support we received from Jan Kasperski, CEO of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, Gideon Foreman of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment along with that of many of your organizations.

Last month, we released a draft regulation laying out the proposed rules for implementing the Cosmetic Pesticides Ban Act.  

The draft regulation is posted on the Environmental Registry until December 22 and can also be found on our ministry’s website.  

Our provincial ban is stronger than any of the municipal by-laws currently in place. Why? For the simple reason that it goes the further step of banning more than 300 of these products from sale.
We want to hear your views on the proposed lists of pesticides products as the final regs are prepared.
We are moving.  We will have the ban in place by the spring of 2009 — in time for the growing season.
We want to move as quickly as possible given the potential implications for people’s health, especially that of children, who, because of their small size and development, could be most at risk from the toxic chemicals in cosmetic use pesticides.

Toxics Reduction Strategy

We are making progress on developing our proposed Toxics Reduction Strategy — with the focus on reducing the use of toxic chemicals at the front end of industrial processes.

This is a significant change from the traditional “end of the pipe” approach to reducing pollution and toxics in our environment.

Our approach would include proposed new legislation as well as ways we can help support industry in reducing their toxics use, and make sure Ontarians are informed about toxic substances and pollutants.

Because we need the best advice in order to devise an effective and workable strategy; early in the process we appointed an Expert Scientific Panel co-chaired by Professor Lynda Collins and Dr. Miriam Diamond.

The Expert Panel is providing us with their advice on which toxics should be the focus of immediate attention, action and reduction while the new toxic reduction legislation is developed.

I want to acknowledge all the hard work and effort of the panel members and thank them for their thoughtful advice.

For a forty-five day period in late summer and fall, we posted a discussion paper on the Environmental Registry identifying the components of the proposed Strategy and asking for public feedback.

We received 128 responses from the public.

What we learned was the public is supportive of our approach, specifically for mandatory reporting and toxics reduction planning; transparency of reporting and our emphasis on toxics information and education and outreach.

That support is backed up by the recent findings from the Canadian Cancer Society Poll that indicates the majority of Ontarians — close to 96 per cent — support our government’s proposal for a toxics reduction strategy for industry.

Industry has also indicated its general acceptance for toxics reduction planning. 

They are particularly interested in capacity building and support for efforts to stimulate innovation and commercialization related to green chemistry and engineering.

In addition, my ministry held more than 15 targeted consultation sessions with environmental, health groups, and industry, as well as holding multi-sectoral sessions in five cities around Ontario.  Two information sessions were held for Aboriginal peoples as well.

We have also received advice and proposals from the Expert Panel.

Some of their key recommendations were that our proposed legislation include: a designated list of toxic substances, new requirements for facilities using toxics, requirements to identify how they are currently using those substances, as well as exploring options to reduce their use.

The Expert Panel also recognized the need to expand opportunities for facilities in Ontario so they can better take advantage of the green economy by encouraging transformation to greener modes of production. 

Informing Ontarians

Clearly, an important part of our approach will be informing Ontarians.

Concern over toxic substances in our environment, including food and consumer products continues to grow.

As many of you will know, Cancer Care Ontario reports 51 per cent of the people it surveyed recently linked cancer to pollution and chemicals in the environment.

We need to inform people about toxics, including carcinogens, in their communities, homes and work places so they can better make decisions about their health and that of their families.

To keep Ontarians informed of the potential risks, the Expert Panel is recommending the development of an accessible, easy-to-understand internet portal to provide information on how and where toxics are used.

The elements of our proposed strategy are now being finalized. 

Our goal is to introduce our proposed Toxics Reduction legislation in the spring.

Building the Green Economy

It’s clear we are all concerned with reducing toxics in our air, land and water.

Here in Ontario, we have one of the largest industrial and commercial sectors in North America.

We cannot ignore the reality that our manufacturing base is undergoing serious economic pressures in the face of a widespread global downturn.

So, while our people’s health and the health of our environment continue to be our government’s over-riding priorities, we also need to ensure that our chemical manufacturers and industrial sector can develop practical and realistic plans to replace or reduce the use of toxic substances without becoming uncompetitive or losing jobs.

We are working with other ministries across government to support Ontario’s industry in developing green chemistry and adopt new and innovative green technology.  

We believe this can be a tremendous opportunity for Ontario to turn the challenge of dealing with toxics into an advantage. 

By reducing toxics we can open up the potential for newer and greener products consumers are demanding — not just here in Ontario, but in the global marketplace.

Ontario companies are recognizing that by improving their environmental performance they boost their bottom line.

They can save money through greater efficiency, by recovering and reusing toxic substances, by reducing the costs of waste disposal and lowering costs of complying with government regulations.

At the same time, by providing greener products, they can be part of the process in transforming our economy.

Ontario is determined to be a leader in the green revolution. 

We know that we have a fundamental responsibility to protect and improve the environment — for the sake of our people today and for future generations. 

The greening of our economy represents our best hope and our best path forward to a better and more sustainable future — and to the health and prosperity that Ontarians want and deserve.

Together, let’s keep working to build a clean, protected and sustainable environment for our children and our grandchildren. 

Thank you.

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