View topic - Ontario Releases New Environment Plan

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PostPosted: December 5th, 2018, 10:53 am 
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Released Nov 29, much of the news reports cover climate change initiatives, although conservation and parks related issues are also included. The plan is general and often doesn't include specifics and funding, and priorities aren't summarized. Maybe these will appear in the Environmental Registry later on if they aren't prioritized now... (or, OTOH, maybe they won't be).

Here's the link:

https://prod-environmental-registry.s3. ... Plan_1.pdf

Some snips that seem to be relevant copied here and I've bolded some that might be worth watching.

Minister's intro:

Quote:
...Ontario is home to hundreds of thousands of lakes, rivers and waterways that are
the lifeblood of our province, where people fish, kayak and swim. We also
rely on our waters to transport goods, feed our crops, and have a safe,
reliable source of drinking water.

I am pleased to present the following made-in-Ontario plan to keep our
province beautiful by protecting our air, land and water, preventing and
reducing litter and waste, supporting Ontarians to continue to do their
share to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and helping communities and
families prepare for climate change...


Litter and cleanup

Quote:
Reduce litter in our neighbourhoods and parks

Our environment plan reflects our government’s
commitment to keep our neighbourhoods, parks
and waterways clean and free of litter and waste.


Ontario will establish an official day
focused on cleanup of litter in Ontario,
coordinated with schools, municipalities
and businesses, to raise awareness
about the impacts of waste in our
neighbourhoods, in our waterways and
in our green spaces.

Develop future conservation leaders through
supporting programs that will actively clean
up litter in Ontario’s green spaces, including
provincial parks, conservation areas and
municipalities.


Conservation

Quote:
We as Ontarians have a long history of putting a
strong focus on expanding Ontario’s parks and
protected areas. In 1999, Ontario’s Living Legacy
Land Use Strategy was announced. A clear and
major goal of this plan was to complete Ontario’s system of parks and protected areas. Our government remains dedicated to maintaining the natural beauty of our province.


Support conservation and environmental
planning

Look to modernize Ontario’s environmental
assessment process
, which dates back to
the 1970s, to address duplication, streamline
processes, improve service standards to
reduce delays, and better recognize other
planning processes.

Protect vulnerable or sensitive natural areas
such as wetlands and other important
habitats through good policy, strong science,
stewardship and partnerships.

Improve coordination of land use planning and
environmental approval processes by updating
ministry guidelines to help municipalities avoid
the impacts of conflicting land uses.

Promote parks and increase recreational
opportunities

Support the creation of new trails across the
province.

Provide Ontario families with more opportunities
to enjoy provincial parks and increase the
number of Ontarians taking advantage of parks
by 10% or approximately one million more
visitors while protecting the natural environment.


Look for opportunities to expand access to
parks throughout the province, but ensure
Ontario Parks has the tools it needs to conduct
its business and create a world-class parks
experience.


Work to ensure that all fish and wildlife licence
fees, fines and royalties collected in the Special
Purpose Account go towards its stated purpose
of conservation
, with transparency for hunters
and anglers in Ontario.

Review management of provincial parks and
conservation reserves to ensure effectiveness
by exploring internationally recognized tools
and best practices.


Share the responsibility of conserving Ontario’s
protected lands by continuing to partner
with municipalities, conservation authorities,
Indigenous communities, conservation
organizations and other community groups
such as trail groups


Implementation

Quote:
IMPLEMENTING OUR PLAN

Begin implementing priority initiatives

In the plan we have identified a number of
priority initiatives. Some of these initiatives
are already underway and we will begin
implementation of the remaining initiatives
following consultation.


We want Ontarians to see how our plan is
helping them save money and improve the
quality of their lives and communities. We
are committed to reporting regularly on
the progress we make on our plan and to
developing key indicators of progress
because we believe that transparency is
important to the success of this plan. We are
also committed to reviewing the environment
plan every four years.

Our consultations and engagement with various
stakeholders, Indigenous communities and the
public will help refine our environment initiatives
by incorporating valuable insights that ensure the
actions we adopt reflect the needs of Ontarians

Comments, ideas and suggestions on the actions
and initiatives in Ontario’s plan to protect the
environment can be made on the Environmental
Registry

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PostPosted: December 6th, 2018, 11:38 am 
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Location: Milton
I saw that and was "unsettled" over the lack of specifics.
I would keep a very close eye on and omni bus bill that comes through Queens Park.
There was also a notice of them planning selling off "surplus & un-need" lands.
Again very short on specifics on locations.
A very watchful eye will be needed these next 4 years.
Jeff

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PostPosted: December 7th, 2018, 5:33 pm 
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Joined: June 23rd, 2006, 4:25 pm
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Location: Milton
Well that didn't take long, :o
And if you think that any of the groups that cover environmental and park issues will have any consideration is laughable in a very disapointing way.
We have already been branded as "leftie" and will be completely ignored (that is as ncie as I can put it)
The only way is for everyone that is concerned, get on their key boards and call them to task.
The dog and pony show that has taken over is taken right from the trump play book.

It is going to take an unprecedented effort from 10's of thousands of individuals to get involved.

Bill 66 that was introduced yesterday will make a lot of people wake up and not on the good side of the bed.
So much for the election promise to protect the GTA Green belt.
https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-busi ... -1/bill-66

Jeff

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PostPosted: December 7th, 2018, 8:49 pm 
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Location: Bancroft, Ontario Canada
I haven't read through the bill yet, heard reference to it resulting in greater damage to water and water bodies... on an interview with the ECO on TVO's The Agenda just now. From the program, some disturbing trends for water, along with findings that Ontario's climate warming rate is three times the world average, that being one of the biggest issues along with a collapse in biodiversity. It seems the Ford government sacked the ECO because they didn't want this pain in the neck, at least stated so in the interview.

https://tvo.org/video/programs/the-agen ... l-guardian

PS... I agree, time to write some letters.

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PostPosted: December 8th, 2018, 9:42 am 
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Environmental lawyers blog wrt to Bill 66... it seems that with the passage of the bill, sections of the Greenbelt Act, Clean Water Act and the Great Lakes Protection Act can be ignored by governments, developers and businessess. The relaxed regulations making "Ontario open for business" may make northern lakes and rivers more vulnerable to damage done by logging and mining.



Quote:
Significantly, the Clean Water Act was one of the statutes passed by the Ontario Legislature in response to Mr. Justice O’Connor’s recommendations, and the Act is intended to prevent the recurrence of the Walkerton Tragedy elsewhere in the province. Accordingly, we conclude that Bill 66’s attempt to constrain the application of the Clean Water Act does not represent sound public policy, and must be immediately withdrawn by the Ontario government.

CELA is extremely disappointed to see that the lessons from the Walkerton Tragedy are being discounted or ignored by the current Ontario government. We therefore anticipate working closely with our environmental, public health and social justice colleagues to vigorously oppose Bill 66 when the Legislature resumes sitting in February 2019.

Given the passage of Bill 57 to eliminate the independence of the Environmental Commissioner, and the introduction of Bill 66, yesterday was one of the worst days for environmental law in Ontario in decades. Moreover, Bill 66 represents an unprecedented and unacceptable attack on legislative provisions which currently safeguard environmental quality and public health and safety throughout Ontario.



https://www.cela.ca/blog/2018-12-07/der ... tack-again

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PostPosted: December 10th, 2018, 10:14 am 
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Lots of outrage in the news this morning, over Doug Ford's Bill 66... one comment from a former city planner stated that Doug Ford approached Toronto council to "look the other way" so that his family business could dump toxins into a river. They didn't and the business had to comply with the law. Now, if passed in February sometime, Bill 66 will allow toxic dumping to go ahead, along with municipalities similarly bypassing laws and developing in formerly protected areas wherever and whenever they want.

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