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Notes for remarks

by

The Honourable Laurel Broten
Minister of the Environment

Sudbury Restoration Workshop
“The Clean Water Act – Health in the Balance”

Fraser Auditorium, Laurentian University
Sudbury, ON
Thursday, February 23, 2006

(Check against delivery)

Thank you, John. (Minister Broten introduced by John Gunn of Laurentian University – Canada Research Chair in Stressed Aquatic Ecosystems.)

I want to thank the Sudbury Restoration Workshop for inviting me to speak to this gathering of leaders from so many disciplines. I also want to acknowledge the good work being done by the Co-operative Fresh Water Ecology Unit that the Government of Ontario is proud to support.

It’s wonderful to see the calibre of people dedicated to the restoration and protection of the Boreal Shield.

The Shield is a distinctive part of Canada’s natural heritage – like the backbone of our country, extending from Newfoundland and Labrador in the east to Saskatchewan and Alberta in the west.

In the Shield, we see both the power of nature and the fragility of its balance.

Albert Einstein once said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

I find this to be true in all aspects of life. What’s balance? Balance is not a fixed point we reach; it is the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

This applies as much to balancing economic and ecological needs in the Boreal Shield as it does to keeping our province’s drinking water clean.

The Clean Water Act, which I introduced in December, is an important part of our government’s plan to meet our number one priority – protecting the health of every Ontarian.

La Loi sur l’eau saine, que j’ai présenté en décembre, est un élément important de la stratégie de notre gouvernement visant à atteindre notre objectif prioritaire qui est de protéger la santé de tous les Ontariens et Ontariennes.

Our province is home to more than a quarter of a million lakes, rivers and streams. And we share the vast reservoir of the Great Lakes – the Earth’s largest system of fresh, surface water. Ontario is blessed when it comes to the abundance and quality of our water supplies.

It’s even more remarkable when you consider this represents a mere 20 per cent of our water, with the rest originating underground.

I know I don’t need to remind you of our vast water resources because the Boreal Shield contains more than one million lakes and accounts for about 22 percent of the freshwater in Canada.

Here in Greater Sudbury you have a mix of urban and rural communities that depend on both groundwater and surface water. And your water supply is unique.

There are about 330 lakes located inside the city’s boundaries. Roughly 10 per cent of Sudbury residents rely on privately owned surface drinking water systems, instead of the private wells that are much more common in other parts of the province.

The Source Water Protection region for Greater Sudbury is just under 9,000 square kilometres – that’s about 40 per cent larger than the province of Prince Edward Island.

And as a result, the potential threats to your water are diverse and different from those faced by other watersheds.

In the bigger picture, we are truly fortunate in a world where the World Health Organization estimates that twelve million people in developing countries die each year from lack of safe drinking water, with waterborne diseases accounting for more than three million deaths.

But our water fortune comes with a responsibility – to protect our precious resources and ensure the safety of drinking water in every part of the province.

One of our first tasks – is restoring trust in the water that comes out of our taps.

We all know about Walkerton. Seven people died, and hundreds of others became seriously ill. Other incidents in communities like Kitchener and the Township of Beckwith have shown us that Walkerton was not an isolated incident. Water contamination can occur anywhere, whether urban or rural.

Sudbury faces its own unique circumstances, where heavy industry, extensive recreational usage and a large number of private systems affect the quality of the water supply.

While Ontario’s water supply is plentiful, a delicate balance is required to keep it pure and clean.

Where do we find this balance?

I believe the answer lies in prevention.

Prevention must be the first barrier in a multi-barrier system of protections that safeguard our drinking water. To protect the water in our taps, we must protect the source.

This is especially true in smaller communities that may not have the advantages of large-scale treatment systems.

Prevention is precisely the approach we are taking with the Clean Water Act.

The Act is an ambitious plan to protect the natural sources of our drinking water.

With this new legislation, municipalities and conservation authorities would have the ability to develop their own water protection plans, and to take action to safeguard local water resources in every part of the province.

What this means is that the people who live in a watershed and depend on it every day for their drinking water will be given more of a say in its protection.

If passed, the Clean Water Act will require local communities to look at the existing and potential threats to their water quality.

And it will empower communities to take preventative steps – by acting before threats to their water quality arise. That could include threats originating outside the community’s boundaries.

Water protection is very much a local issue. Every watershed is different, and local authorities are in the best position to plan and carry out the necessary protection measures.

The Act will require full public consultation on every local water protection plan. Everybody in the community gets a chance to take part in the planning process.

One of the hallmarks of the Clean Water Act is that it recognizes the unique characteristics of each watershed.

We understand that one-size-fits-all approaches won’t work when it comes to water protection planning.

Each community needs solutions that reflect the nature of its watershed, not arbitrary political boundaries.

Your water supply doesn’t start at the township line; neither should the plan to protect it.

Under the Clean Water Act, each Ontario watershed would in effect be treated as a single community – so that shared local decisions can be developed to manage and protect everyone’s water supply.

The Act gives everyone in the community an opportunity to participate. Municipalities, conservation authorities, landowners, farmers, industry, community groups and the public would all work together to meet common goals.

One of these goals ties in very directly to what is being done through the Sudbury Restoration Workshop. When we prevent contamination, we prevent the need for costly, complex and time-consuming cleanups after the fact.

Even though prevention is the most prudent approach, there are costs to be borne.

Our government is willing to make this investment.

We are providing local communities and conservation authorities with the resources they need to carry out their vital role.

We are making a significant investment in the science of clean water.

In December, Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay and I announced a total of 67.5 million dollars in provincial grants and funding to help local communities and conservation authorities undertake their water planning efforts.

It is intended to support local communities in their efforts to protect their own water supplies.

It will help ensure that local watershed plans are developed on the basis of solid science.

The Clean Water Act is only one part of the strategy we are building to protect Ontario’s water resources.

Over the last two years, our government has also hired more water inspectors, and introduced new rules for training the people who operate municipal water treatment systems.

We have implemented yearly inspections for municipal residential drinking water systems across the province and twice-yearly inspections at the labs that test our drinking water.

We have helped farming operations develop workable plans under the Nutrient Management Act.

Our government is providing financial assistance to help communities upgrade their water and sewage systems, to help reduce the risk of contaminated drinking water. This is critical because more than half of Ontario’s pipes are more than fifty years old; many of them are over a hundred.

Many ‘boil water advisories’ get issued as a precautionary measure when there is a mechanical breakdown in the infrastructure. One broken pipe can cause anxiety and disruption in hundreds of households.

Continued investment in infrastructure will lower the risk of these sorts of disruptions and help us reduce the risks of contaminated drinking water.

Our government has introduced stricter rules for issuing permits to take water.

And we have established new environmental penalties and a community cleanup fund, to help guard against industrial spills that affect local water supplies.

All of these measures are important and necessary. Taken together, better prevention, better treatment, better training and frequent inspections form the pillars of a safe and reliable water supply.

The prevention-based approach to source water protection reflects the McGuinty government’s plan to deliver real and positive changes to Ontario.

Ensuring safe, clean and sustainable drinking water goes hand-in-hand with a number of other measures that will protect our natural and environmental resources, and ultimately, our quality of life.

Our actions are linked by our commitment to effective stewardship of Ontario’s water, air and land. We are working to ensure that every resident of this province enjoys the benefits of a clean environment, and a healthy, prosperous society.

We know that it shouldn’t take a tragedy, big or small, to trigger action to protect our environment and ultimately our health.

The key to our efforts is balance.

The Clean Water Act brings balance to the responsible management of our water supplies.

La Loi sur l’eau saine contribue à gérer nos réserves d’eau d’une manière responsable.

It enables communities to come together to find the balance that best suits local conditions.

As I said a few minutes ago, balance is not a stationary point.

Let’s keep moving ahead together to meet the challenges that arise.

Let’s work together through the Clean Water Act to ensure healthy drinking water and healthy communities for years to come.

Thank you.

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