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(Fwd) Ontario Environment Programs Cut
Ontario's new reactionary gov't is about to repeal the existing
ban on new garbage burners!!!
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date: 27 Oct 1995 15:10:27 -0500 (EST)
Reply-to: Conference "env.justice" <ecojustice@igc.apc.org>
From: cielap@web.apc.org
Subject: Ontario Environment Programs Cut
To: Recipients of conference <ecojustice@igc.apc.org>
The following topics are covered in the Autumn 1995 CIELAP
Newsletter (Volume 3, Number 3), :
* Canadian Environmental Protection Act Update;
* Editorial on Canada's International Environmental Track Record
with a focus on transboundary hazardous waste movement;
* Ontario Government Cuts to Environmental Programs;
* Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Position filed with new
Government; * Bill C-62 Regulatory Efficiency Act Update;
To obtain a copy of the newsletter see directions below. The
following are excerpts of the above-mentioned articles from the
Autumn 1995 CIELAP Newsletter :
CEPA Review: Government Preparing Response to Standing
Committee's
Report
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and
Sustainable Development delivered its report on the review of the
Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) on June 20, 1995.
The
Committee recommended major changes to CEPA in the areas of toxic
substances assessment and pollution prevention, biotechnology,
ocean dumping and coastal zone management, the role of First
Nations in environmental protection, environmental management
within the federal government, public participation in
environmental decision-making and federal environmental law
enforcement.
Federal Environment Minister Sheila Copps has expressed strong
support for the Committee's recommendations, and had originally
hoped to have a government response to the report prepared by
mid-
September. However, it now seems likely that the government
response will not be released until mid-November, closer to the
150
day deadline for a government reply to a House of Commons
committee
report.
The release of the government response to the Committee's report
will likely be followed by a brief (two month) consultation
period,
after which the drafting of amendments to CEPA will begin. It is
reported that Environment Canada hopes to have a CEPA amendment
package introduced into the House of Commons and passed second
reading before the House rises at the end of June 1996.
Environment Canada officials are currently engaged in intense
discussions with representatives of other government departments
regarding the content of the government response to the
Committee's
report. Many of the report's recommendations are meeting with
intense opposition from some industrial sectors... <CONTINUED>
A coalition of environmental organizations have sponsored the
development of an online 'message-writing' campaign in support of
the proposed changes to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act
(CEPA). The campaign is explained in a World Wide Web homepage on
the Internet. There are two ways to participate in the online
campaign:
1) Send an E-mail message to cepa911@web.apc.org urging stronger
environmental protection and it will be automatically printed on
a
fax machine in the offices of ten key federal ministers; OR
2) Visit the World Wide Web site at
http://www.web.apc.org/cepa911
to find out more about the Canadian Environmental Protection Act,
why it is not working and how to fix it. Then send a message to
the
federal ministers from the WWW site.
EDITORIAL : Canada's International Environmental Record: A
Growing
Legacy of Shame?
On September 25, CIELAP wrote to the Hon. Shiela Copps, Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment expressing the
serious concerns of the Institute regarding the position taken by
Canada at the September conference of the parties to the Basel
Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous
Wastes and their Disposal. CIELAP was also deeply disturbed by
the
subsequent public statements by Canada's Ambassador for the
Environment, the Hon. John Fraser, regarding Canada's intention
to
delay ratification of the Convention, due to the ban on exports
of
hazardous wastes for recycling from Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations to non-OECD nations
agreed to by the parties in Geneva...... <CONTINUED>
The Common Sense Revolution Comes to Ontario's Environment
Ontario's new provincial government has begun to bring the
"Common
Sense Revolution" to Ontario's environmental laws and policies,
and
the results do not look promising for the environment. Since
their
election on June 8, the Progressive Conservatives have taken a
number of actions with major environmental implications. Among
the
major steps:
* Agriculture Minister Noble Villeneuve withdrew provincial
funding for the establishment of an agricultural landtrust to
protect the Niagara Fruit Belt from urban development;
* the Ontario government formally posted its proposal to repeal
the ban on new municipal solid waste incinerators on the
Environmental Bill of Rights environmental registry.
Plus changes to transit and Blue Box funding, sustainable forests
and many other programs relating to environmental protection and
enhancement
<CONTINUED>.
CIELAP Files Brief with Province Opposing Withdrawal of MSW
Incineration Ban
In a brief filed on September 14 with the Ministry of Environment
and Energy under Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rights, CIELAP
stated that there are "sound economic and environmental reasons"
for maintaining the current ban on new solid waste incinerators
in
the province. The province announced its intention to remove the
ban on July 31, The announcement was followed by a 45-day public
comment period, 15 days longer than the minimum required by the
EBR. <CONTINUED>
Copies of CIELAP's brief (95/3) are available from the CIELAP
office.
Bill C-62, the Regulatory Efficiency Act Returns, Disappears
In a bizarre series of events Bill C-62, the proposed Regulatory
Efficiency Act, made a reappearance recently. During the week of
September 26-29, Bill C-62 had found a spot on the House of
Commons Order Paper for reference to the House of Commons
Standing
Committee on Government Operations prior to second reading.
However, before the reference debate could occur, the Bill was
withdrawn from the Order Paper. The Bill's future is now
unclear.
It is reported that the Bill was pulled from the Order Paper
as
a result of concerns within the government regarding the extent
of
the opposition likely to appear within the government caucus, and
from non-governmental organizations and the media.
<CONTINUED>
For a copy of the CIELAP Newsletter please submit your surface
mail
address by E-mail to CIELAP@web.apc.org. Only available by
surface
mail at the moment. Or contact Greg Jenish at the:
Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy
517 College Street
Suite 400
Toronto, Ontario
M6G 4A2
(416) 923-3529 tel (416) 923-5949 fax