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Keynote Address

by

The Honourable Leona Dombrowsky
Minister of the Environment
and
MPP – Hastings – Frontenac – Lennox and Addington


to the
Ontario Good Roads Association/
Rural Ontario Municipalities Association

February 22, 2005

(Check against delivery)

Good morning. I am delighted to have this opportunity to be here with you.

Over the past two days I have met with many of you to hear your concerns.

It is an opportunity I enjoy.

I believe OGRA-ROMA offers a valuable perspective.

As a rural member I am able to identify with many of the issues you have brought to me.

This conference reminds us that while the physical distance between Queen’s Park and some of our communities may be great, we are quite close in other ways.

These sessions provide a valuable chance to hear the concerns of people around the province.

There are many unique issues, but our vision for the future is the same across the province.

As I tell people everywhere I go: I am from Tweed.

I grew up there, raised four children there and still live there with my husband and daughter.

When I have a conversation with someone from Hearst or Keewatin or Leamington, the issues we discuss are similar to the ones raised by my neighbours and my constituents.

Today, I would like to take a few minutes to review some of my ministry’s current initiatives – to bring you up to date on where we have been and where we are going:

• I want to discuss implementation of Ontario’s Drinking Water System Regulation 170 and the work we are doing to ensure that everyone has access to safe, clean drinking water.
• I will outline our progress with watershed-based source protection.
• I will touch on our progress with Bill 133, the legislation that will introduce Environmental Penalties.
• I will talk about the Blue Box program and the progress we are making toward our new waste diversion goal.

A year ago as a new government, we were making early progress on an ambitious agenda.

Over the past year, we have turned that potential into real action.

Like all of you, we believe that all Ontarians deserve communities that are strong, healthy and prosperous.

That goal has been a major focus for our government.

Strong, healthy communities.

While the goal is straightforward, . . . getting there involves ensuring that the dozens of day-to-day decisions you make at the municipal level and we make at the provincial level all move toward a common goal.

I hope that what you hear from me and my colleagues helps you appreciate that our government’s many initiatives are a concerted effort heading toward that same objective.

Let me begin with some thoughts on Regulation 170, the safe drinking water regulation.

For me, this issue illustrates the influence and importance of ROMA.

It was during my first ROMA conference last year that I came to fully understand the hardship that Regulation 170 was causing in rural Ontario.

I saw 45 delegations and just about every one told me about community halls and churches in their municipality that were on the verge of closing because of the cost and complexity of Regulation 170.

In my own riding, I have heard from dozens of communities that are negatively impacted by this regulation.

With the deadlines for compliance for private and small water-systems fast approaching, I had them extended by six- to 18-months to give us enough time to carefully consider how Regulation 170 could be fixed.

The extended deadlines apply to water systems in places such as community centres, town halls, motels, resorts, campgrounds and mobile home parks.

I then asked my staff to work closely with the ROMA-AMO Task force on Reg 170 to provide recommendations on how to improve the requirements for small municipal water systems.

I asked also the Drinking Water Advisory Council to do public consultations and consequently advise me how to ensure that private water systems deliver safe, clean water.

I must be very clear that this thorough review of Regulation 170 is not simply about reducing the cost of compliance.

Delivering safe clean water is our top priority.

We need to get the regulation right to fulfill the Premier’s goal that wherever you are in Ontario, when you turn on the tap you can be sure that the water is clean and safe.

I want to express my thanks to the ROMA-AMO Task Force for the terrific work they have done on this issue.

The Task Force submitted a series of recommendations on implementation to the ministry last fall.

Their suggestions have been a tremendous help as we look at workable solutions to bring water systems into compliance with the new requirements.

I recently received the report from the Drinking Water Advisory Council.

After a careful review, I will be releasing it publicly.

It is a very thorough report and I want to thank the Council’s Chair, Jim Merritt, and the other members for their hard work and good advice

Last Fall, the Council heard from those who drink the water and those who deliver the water in consultations in 12 small and rural communities across the province.

What the panel heard and what the ROMA/AMO task force is recommending is very consistent.

Many of the people who spoke to the advisory council recommended that public health units should once again become involved in overseeing private water systems that serve the public.

In many cases, public health inspectors are already visiting businesses such as restaurants.

When it comes down to it, serving safe clean water is a matter of public health.

Indeed, the ROMA/AMO task force recommended that public health inspectors should inspect municipal systems serving community centres and arenas and other municipal facilities too.

So there seems to be a consensus that when dealing with small systems that are not residential systems, but that serve the public, it is a public health matter that is best overseen by public health units.

Yesterday, when I met with the ROMA Executive, I asked for their thoughts on this approach.

I would welcome your thoughts as well.

As you heard this morning, my colleague Minister David Caplan is developing a sustainable financing strategy for water and sewage infrastructure.

This government takes the issue of rebuilding this province’s infrastructure very seriously.

It has been almost five years since the tragedy in Walkerton.

As time passes, it has become easier for some people to assume that Walkerton was a single, isolated incident that could not happen again.

Walkerton was our wake up call!

Justice O’Connor found that the problem was caused by the failure of several systems that should have protected residents.

It must not happen again.

That is why the McGuinty Government has made source protection a priority.

Protecting water at its source is an important part of the multi-barrier approach O’Connor recommended to delivering safe, clean water.

Our ministry is making great progress on this front.

This year we will introduce source protection legislation mandating the development of plans to protect drinking water at its source for watersheds across the province.

I need to reiterate the importance of partnership on this issue.

The essence of effective source protection is the ability for many different parties to share information and work together toward a common goal.

This effort will create a new working relationship between municipalities and conservation authorities.

It will help ensure that actions to protect our vital water supply do not take place in isolation.

It will mean that source protection plans are truly comprehensive and collaborative.

This brings me to another important initiative of the McGuinty Government.

We are taking action to reduce the risk of unlawful spills into our water.

Bill 133 is our ambitious new legislation to bring large industries into compliance with Ontario’s environmental laws quickly and effectively and to act as a deterrent to those who pollute.

The legislation, if passed, would apply environmental penalties to the nine industrial sectors under the Municipal/Industrial Strategy for Abatement (MISA) regulations. At this time, that captures about 140 industrial facilities.

These are major facilities that directly discharge into Ontario’s rivers and lakes.

They also pose the greatest risk to the environment because they handle large volumes of toxic chemicals.

If passed, Bill 133 would not apply to municipalities.

Let me repeat. Bill 133 would not apply to municipalities.

However, municipalities that suffer the effects of a spill would benefit from the community cleanup fund the Bill proposes to establish.

Bill 133 would allow municipalities to collect costs incurred in responding to spills, to ensure that you are not the ones paying for the consequences of a spill.

Our government has been very clear in its message to the MISA sectors: you spill, you pay.

There is more good news for municipalities on the recycling front.

Over the years, there are few initiatives that have made a more important contribution to the environment than the Blue Box program.

This program started in Kitchener 24 years ago and caught on throughout the rest of North America.

The average homeowner was given a new sense of social responsibility.

One of the most positive developments we have had in recent years is that we finally solved the puzzle of sustainable Blue Box financing.

Under the current program plan, municipalities recover half of the net cost of their programs through fees paid by industry stewards.

This year, industry and the LCBO are contributing approximately $64 million towards municipal Blue Box programs -- covering the full 50 per cent of the cost of Blue Box programs in Ontario.

Since the WDO plan for sustainable Blue Box funding was implemented, diversion of waste that can be recycled through the Blue Box program is up by seven per cent, to 52 per cent.

That is good news.

I want to emphasize how important it is for municipalities to manage the funding prudently.

The government worked hard to bring industry on board and we need to be able to tell them that their money is going directly toward efficient diversion of Blue Box waste.

The Blue Box system is helping to meet Ontario’s new waste diversion goal of 60 per cent.

There are still innovative opportunities to improve its effectiveness.

Last year, I asked Waste Diversion Ontario to propose new measures and enhancements to the Blue Box Program.

The ministry has now received their proposals, which are currently being reviewed by staff.

Ontario’s 60 per cent diversion goal is ambitious, but it is also achievable.

My ministry has been working diligently with municipalities and other stakeholders to ensure we meet the target.

In the last few months, we have circulated a discussion paper and held a number of consultation and strategy sessions on the 60 per cent goal.

We are giving careful consideration to that input as we develop a province-wide action plan to meet our new diversion goal.

We will release that plan later this spring.

Diverting more waste from disposal will help municipalities develop a sustainable, made-in-Ontario solution to their waste management needs.

We must broaden our efforts to divert more types of waste.

One step is to designate more materials under the Waste Diversion Act.

An area with significant potential for diversion is electrical and electronic products, which is one of the fastest growing waste streams entering landfills.

We need an electronics diversion program so that municipalities are not shouldering all the cost of diverting computers and cell phones and TVs.

It is time for the companies that produce these products to step up to the plate, and they are doing just that.

In 2003, Ontario municipalities diverted more than 900 tonnes of this “e-waste.”

I recently designated these materials under the Waste Diversion Act because I see there is still significant room for improvement.

In fact, more than 150,000 tonnes of e-waste ended up in Canadian landfills in 2002 and unless we act, that figure is expected to grow to more than 200,000 tonnes by 2010.

I have asked WDO to come up with a program to divert thousands of tonnes of plastic, wiring, metal and chemicals away from landfills.

This will be one of the most comprehensive electronics and electrical equipment diversion programs in the world.

I have covered quite a bit of ground here – but that is because there is so much to talk about.

As a part of the McGuinty government, I am very proud of the work we are doing.

As a proud rural member of the McGuinty Government, it is important to me to be at the OGRA-ROMA conference, to hear what challenges you are facing and to share with you how I am representing your interests, and the interests of the environment.

As I have pointed out, Ontario faces numerous challenges, but our future is also filled with tremendous potential and some wonderful opportunities lie ahead.

As we move forward, I can tell you that our government will not waver in its commitment to building strong, healthy and prosperous communities.

We will continue to work hard, to make this province a better place for our children, and the children who follow.

Thank you.

 

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