Clean Air & Clean Water

 

Clean Air and Clean Water

publicpower means moving with legislation and committing resources to protect the safety of Ontario's drinking water and clean the air.

The NDP will ensure that water, an essential service, remains in public hands. We'll honour every recommendation of the Walkerton inquiry, including passing our Ontario Drinking Water Source Protection Act and introducing a Safe Drinking Water Fund to rebuild municipal water infrastructure.

Conservatives: In one word, the Conservative record is "Walkerton". Seven people died and thousands were made ill from risky cuts the Conservative government made to environmental protection.

The Conservatives cut the Ministry of Environment budget by 40 per cent and fired close to 1,000 workers doing front line monitoring, inspection and enforcement. They closed essential public water testing labs, forcing communities to use unregulated private labs to test their water.

At the Walkerton Inquiry, Justice O'Connor concluded the Conservative government's cutbacks and privatization were direct contributors to the tragedy.

Three years later, Conservatives have accomplished only 16 of the 121 (14 of 28 Part I and 2 of 93 Part II) Walkerton inquiry recommendations.

Communities such as Paisley, Atikokan, and Mansfield, which is in the Premier's riding, are still boiling their water but the best the Conservatives can do is promise drinking water protection in five years.

About 40 per cent of Ontario's municipal water supplies still do not comply with provincial regulations.

More than 60 communities have required compliance extensions because Conservatives haven't made provincial funding available to upgrade water systems.

Air quality has become worse under eight years of the Conservatives - more smog days, more asthma, more hospital admissions and 1,800 deaths a year. (Ontario Medical Association).

Liberals: Liberals harp on the problems, but rarely provide practical solutions. They didn't work with the community and environmental groups to develop a Safe Drinking Water Act or a Source Protection Act like the NDP's Marilyn Churley did. On water quality, as with so many issues, Liberals take their cue (and their ideas) from the NDP's lead.

Their platform says they would implement source protection, but the Liberals don't support empowering municipalities to regulate intensive livestock operations, despite their obvious threat to water quality.

The Liberals say they would also shut down the coal plants by 2007 but have no concrete plan to replace that power with aggresive conservation, renewables and other publicpower solutions. They seem to think the private sector will build the plants but the private sector has shown no inclination to do so. The result will be that the Liberals won't shut down the coal plants because the lights will go out if they do so without replacing the power.

NDP: The NDP pledge is to protect drinking water from its source to the tap. Drinking water testing and delivery will always remain public under the NDP and municipalities will have funding to properly operate and maintain sewer and water systems. Strong watershed protection and green planning measures will keep unwanted developments in check and preserve valuable agricultural lands, wetlands and natural areas.

Only Howard Hampton and the NDP will immediately halt intensive livestock operations until our tough new drinking water protection measures are in place. What happens to our water is everyone's business: the NDP would crack down on industries taking water from Ontario rivers and lakes.

The NDP continues to lead the way on environmental issues just as it did in developing Ontario's first Safe Drinking Water Act, a bill that the Conservative government stalled, only to pass a weaker one of its own more than two years later.

New Democrats will combat smog with an aggressive action plan that includes shutting down coal-fired hydro generating plants by 2007, replacing them with an aggressive conservation program, renewable energy and other publicpower solutions.

The NDP would support communities in banning cosmetic use of pesticides, and introduce a province-wide Pesticide Reduction Strategy to make Ontario the leader in reducing harmful chemicals.

We'll stop the 10,000-hectare clearcuts the Conservatives have allowed and restore the 260-ha limit, enforcing sustainable forestry practices that protect Ontario's forests, its local economies and the air. And we will take action on environmental causes of illness.

New Democrats will make Ontario the green giant of recycling and composting programs. We'll say 'no' to mega landfills and municipal waste incineration and will bring about strong measures to control toxic waste imports and dumping.

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