[greenon-l] A Liberal Majority and the Environment

[Conservation Council of Ontario]

Green On.
The Online Newsletter of the Conservation Council of Ontario


Green Challenges for a Liberal Majority
And the Opportunities They Present for
Environmental and Conservation Groups
A special edition of the Conservation Council of Ontario's e-newsletter


October 3, 2003
Chris Winter, Executive Director


After eight years, three months and twenty-four days, the Common Sense 
Revolution is history.

With last night's election of a majority Liberal government, the priorities 
of the Ontario electorate have taken a dramatic swing away from personal 
gain back towards the common good.  The promise of tax cuts came a distant 
second to public education, health care and the environment.

In his acceptance speech, Premier designate Dalton McGuinty referred to 
clean air and clean water as two of his government's priorities.  The work 
begins tomorrow, he said.

With that in mind, here are some thoughts on the environmental challenges 
for the government, the ongoing fiscal constraints, and the opportunities 
for some creative approaches.


The Issues
Mark Winfield and Environmental Communication Options produced an excellent 
compendium of issues and needs for the election.  It's available at 
http://www.ontarioelectionenvironment.com

Here are five key issues.

1.  Enforcement:  Restore the monitoring and enforcement capacity of the 
Ministry of the Environment for air quality, water quality and quantity, 
and for hazardous emissions.

2.  Energy: Phase out coal-fired electricity by 2007, reduce Ontario's 
energy demand, and implement renewable portfolio standards for green power.

3.  Solid Waste: Find a long-term solution for garbage, including 
aggressive waste reduction targets and disposal options.

4.  Sprawl:  Stop urban sprawl and fund the infrastructure for compact, 
livable communities.

5.  Natural Areas:  Protect Ontario's parks, forests and other natural 
areas from overdevelopment and unsustainable resource management.



What will change?
Two things will change, and one will not.

No New Money.  With no new taxes, there will be few significant increases 
in the ministry budgets for environmental programs, and therefore there 
will likely be no immediate influx of ministry funding for environmental 
projects.

Openness.  After eight years of being labeled "special interests", the 
government now shares many of our goals.  We should see a return to 
consultation with major stakeholders around government policy.  We may not 
see a return to the Round Table on Environment and Economy, or a Premier's 
Council, but I would expect to see a new ministerial advisory committees 
and public consultation on policy directions.

Partnerships  Beyond consultation, there is a clear need to develop active 
partnerships with the non-government sector to deliver environmental 
solutions.  These partnerships exist throughout the social and health 
sectors, but only to a small degree in the environmental sector.  If we are 
to succeed in achieving aggressive targets for energy conservation and 
waste reduction, then NGO programs for public education and support 
services need to be a key part of the solution.

For more ideas on the NGO role, see "Greening Ontario", the Conservation 
Council's strategy paper on revitalizing the role of non-governmental 
organizations.  http://www.greenontario.org/greenstrat.html


Where will the money come from?
This was Howard Hampton's question in the Leader's Debate.  I can't answer 
for education and health, but here are two ways to generate funds for 
environmental projects and campaigns:

1.  Develop new sources of funds.  In the case of energy conservation, the 
Liberals adopted a position similar to one recommended by the Conservation 
Council: a surcharge on the overconsumption of electricity.  The surcharge 
could generate between $250 million and $500 million per year, which could 
be used to offset incentives for conservation and green power.

2.  Re-focus existing sources.  The government has significant resources at 
its disposal that can be re-focused to support action-oriented partnerships 
between the government and NGOs. For example, McGuinty promised to put an 
end to partisan government advertising such as the energy conservation ads 
that preceded the election.  A better solution would be to divert 
advertising funds to support partnership campaigns, such as the Ontario 
Energy Conservation Campaign currently being proposed by the Conservation 
Council (Item 3. of our four point energy conservation action plan) 
www.greenontario.org.solutions/energy.html.

Similarly, the Ontario Trillium Foundation has an annual budget of $100 
million (a fraction of the gaming revenue).  Improvements can be made in 
the foundation's environmental strategic planning and programs 
to  encourage projects and partnership campaigns that will assist in 
meeting current environmental priorities.  (The federal government, for 
example, recently announced that the next round of it's EcoAction program 
would be focused entirely on projects that support the national Climate 
Change Strategy.)


Our Challenge -- Work Together
"Together we are stronger", Dalton McGuinty said time and again during the 
campaign.  The same can be said of the NGO community.  We need to develop 
campaigns and alliances that will work with the  government to achieve 
common goals -- such as a 50% waste diversion target and a 20% energy 
conservation and renewable energy target.

Ontario's new Smart Growth Network is a good example, bringing together 
environmental, housing, transportation, and neighbourhood groups to work on 
the challenges of stopping sprawl and promoting compact, healthy 
communities.  http://www.greenontario.org/smartgrowth/osgn.html

There are tremendous resources resources and skills available within 
Ontario's non-governmental organizations.  Yet too often we work 
independently of each other when we should be working together.  More 
importantly, we need to be able to present municipalities and communities 
with one-window access to a full range of support services for public 
outreach and environmental solutions.

The next few years will be difficult ones for both the provincial 
government and for the environmental community. We are facing many 
challenges.  But we also have a unique opportunity to forge new 
partnerships and achieve tangible and significant results.

Let's take up the challenge.


***************************
Promoting conservation leadership, cooperation, and action for over 50 years
The Conservation Council of Ontario
43 Sorauren Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M6R 2C8
(416) 533-1635
www.greenontario.org
Chris Winter, Executive Director
Lois Corbett, President 
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