DIRTY POLLUTERS HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries an article written by Mark Winfield. The title is "Poised to repeat Walkerton-style mistakes". Mr. Winfield is a professor of environmental studies at York University. In this article he is commenting upon new legislation currently before the legislative Assembly of Ontario . Bill 154 is called the Cutting Unnecessary Red Tape Reduction Act. It's very title is a clarion call to businesses and corporations and is promising them reduced costs and hassles, oddly enough just before a provincial election. I mean think about it. The governing Liberals are promising our financially strapped working class a significantly large boost in the minimum wage which will likely reverberate throughout the job market hence some serious goodies are needed to entice business back into the Liberal fold.

Mr. Winfield has long been involved in environmental issues outside his day job at York University. His analysis particularly of the "one for one" rule as well as the Section 8 of Schedule 4 of the Bill are frightening. Clearly these will both weaken government's ability to amend or increase environmental protection in the future even if it is clear that it is needed. Mr. Winfield's comparison to the Walkerton disaster here in Ontario is relevant. Red tape reduction for water treatment operators was implicated in that human disaster. Other environmental disasters here in Ontario have occurred such as Elmira, Sarnia/Corruna, Cambridge (Northstar Aerospace) and Grassy Narrows with very little obviously having been learned to avoid the next one.

This Bill 154 sounds like huge trouble. It can be readily fixed as Mr. Winfield suggests how. Shame on our Liberal government desperately trying to avoid their well earned death throes.