Province releases made-in-Ontario environmental plan

By: Sandra Dueck, Policy Analyst, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce

The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks has released its Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan titled “Preserving and Protecting our Environment for Future Generations”. The 54-page document featuring almost 120 action items outlines how the government will approach various aspects from outlining where the province is today to protecting our air, lakes and rivers, addressing climate change, reducing litter and waste in our communities & keeping our land and soil clean to conserving land and greenspace. Did you know that? “measured against the same base year of Canada’s target under the Paris Agreement (2005), the province’s total greenhouse gas emissions have dropped by 22% – even while the rest of Canada saw emissions increase by 3% during that same time.” In a submission to the Ministry ahead of the plan release, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce encouraged the government to approach their plan with four principles in mind, in order to strike the right balance between protecting our environment and supporting a prosperous economy. These principles were:

1. Design smart regulations

The government was encouraged to reduce red tape, fix the waste management system and take an outcome-based approach to environmental regulation.

2. Invest strategically in sustainable innovation

By doing this the government can offer more help to the private sector to commercialize and export local innovation, leverage the industries, such as nuclear, that were essential in helping Ontario transition away from coal, engage in sustainable procurement that recognizes products and goods that demonstrate efficient energy use and environmental stewardship, and collect a return on government investment.

3. Support community resilience

This includes encouraging municipal use of asset management planning, adjusting building codes to reflect new innovations and support the retrofit economy.

4. Foster collaboration

Collaboration is key to ensuring success and government needs to work with stakeholders to understand and share data that can be useful to policy development. Collaboration will also encourage the breaking down of silos within government and across future partnerships. After the release of the province’s plan, OCC President & CEO Rocco Rossi commented, “As Ontario’s business advocate, we are pleased the Government of Ontario is taking steps to strike an appropriate balance between protecting our environment and supporting a stronger economy. Today’s plan will help us achieve global targets under the Paris Agreement, while also prioritizing transparency, fiscal sustainability and business competitiveness. We are encouraged to see that the Ontario government has taken steps to address all four priority areas. With the business community already navigating excessive regulatory burdens, we urge the government to continue to prioritize and consider impacts on the private sector when implementing the new standards and policies announced in the plan.” The plan is now in the 60-Day consultation period with the following identified by government as the next steps: “

• Continue to consult with the public and engage with Indigenous communities Throughout the environment plan we have identified areas of action and key initiatives. These are areas where we are engaging with stakeholders and Indigenous communities to develop new approaches that support our common goals for environmental and climate leadership.

• Establish an advisory panel on climate change An advisory panel on climate change will be established to provide advice to the Minister on implementation and further development of actions and activities in our plan specific to climate change.

• Begin implementing priority initiatives Some of these initiatives are already underway and we will begin implementation of the remaining initiatives following consultation.

• Measure and report on progress 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.” You can provide your feedback on the plan through the following link. Chamber members, we will be looking for your input through a survey. peterboroughchamber.ca/blog