DID HELL JUST FREEZE OVER?

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following title on an article: "Ford government water-taking reforms win applause from environmental critics". Yes we are talking about Doug Ford the Premier of Ontario and the leader of the CONSERVATIVE party of Ontario! This is he same premier and same party who were caught on video promising developers that he'd open a big chunk of the Greenbelt for them. Ford and the Conservatives quickly backtracked on that proposed environmentally regressive plan and now they are actually tightening regulations for commercial water bottling companies. These regulations include municipalities having greater input into proposed water taking permits.

Other protections would include priorities being set for water taking when there is short supply and competing demands. Drinking water comes first with environmental needs such as maintaining stream flows, followed by agricultural irrigation. Further down the priority list would be commercial and industrial uses of water such as irrigating golf courses. This article even suggests that golf courses and gravel companies should also pay the same per litre of water rates that bottling companies are now being charged. All of this seems to be good news and environmental groups such as Environmental Defence are publicly saying so.