PCs putting politics ahead of environment
On your way to work, you grab your umbrella as the forecast is calling for rain. But today’s rain will be different and unfortunately, that umbrella is going to be of little help. A torrential downpour of 100 mm causes flash flooding, closing roads and bridges, filling underpasses and submerging cars, knocking out power for 16,000 people, and flooding people’s homes and places of work.
During the storm, you go down to the parking garage to check on your car and become stuck in an elevator as it quickly fills with water. You desperately scream for help and cling to life, as the police swim down to rescue you, which they achieve with seconds to spare.
This sounds like a scene of a movie, right? Wrong. This happened on Aug. 7, 2018 in Toronto.
Conservation authorities are the first line of defence in preventing and reducing the impacts of flooding, which happens to be the leading cause of public emergency in Ontario. The most practical approach to prevent flooding, to which conservation authorities play a critical role in minimizing flood risk within a watershed.
Practically speaking, this means that conservation authorities look at the upstream, ecosystem and downstream impacts that proposed development will have on groundwater, stormwater runoff and erosion for streams and rivers that ultimately drain into other bodies of water. Upon the completion of their analysis, conservation authorities provide technical advice on whether the concepts should be allowed to proceed.
Last month, the province introduced a budget bill. This proposed bill includes language that would allow a cabinet minister to override conservation authorities’ science-based watershed approach to planning and permitting to one based solely on politics. This essentially gives control over to political lobbyists which represents the financial interests of a few, rather than the greater good of our province.
Conservation authorities believe that development, if well planned, can happen safely while maintaining nature’s beauty and diversity. This means that the technical agencies support responsible development in our watersheds, although this is often wrongly confused with being antidevelopment.
The impacts of short-sighted government intervention, which override science for the benefit of kick-starting the economy, will have vast financial and environmental consequences for generations. The messaging is clear — Ontario is open for business, no matter the cost.
Conservation authorities are apolitical organizations, created by bipartisan legislation, to further the conservation, restoration, development and management of natural resources in our watersheds.
We should all be able to agree it is unacceptable political decorum to make changes to environmental legislation through an unrelated budget bill for the sole purpose of using a loophole that allows the province to avoid appropriate consultation, understanding that this legislation will have irreversible impacts for future generations.
The government’s actions are unnecessarily pitting development against the rest of the province. I have seen how passionate and solution-orientated many developers are in their desires to build sustainable and vibrant communities, in accordance with science. I expected the province would use this opportunity to develop legislation that fostered this relationship, instead of attempting to further the divide, thus voiding the efforts many conservation authorities and developers have done to work for the greater good.
My history with the Conservative party is long, inspired by party leader Jean Charest and the leadership of Bill Davis and Brian Mulroney, for their dedication balancing environmental stewardship with fiscal responsibility. This seemingly new direction of the Conservative government and party is saddening, as it no longer aligns with my personal values and my professional integrity as chair of Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), and a Peel Regional Councillor for Caledon.
I appeal to everyone reading this article to contact the premier and your local MPP immediately to ask them to remove Schedule 6 from Bill 229 in advance of this week’s final vote. This is no time to sit on the sidelines.