<html> <div align="center"> 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 </div> 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 <a href="http://www.ontarioelectionenvironment.com/" eudora="autourl">http://www.ontarioelectionenvironment.com </a>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.  <a href="http://www.greenontario.org/greenstrat.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.greenontario.org/greenstrat.html</a> 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) <a href="http://www.greenontario.org.solutions/energy.html" eudora="autourl">www.greenontario.org.solutions/energy.html</a>. 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.  <a href="http://www.greenontario.org/smartgrowth/osgn.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.greenontario.org/smartgrowth/osgn.html</a> 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.   <div>***************************</div> <div>Promoting conservation leadership, cooperation, and action for over 50 years</div> <div>The Conservation Council of Ontario</div> <div>43 Sorauren Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M6R 2C8</div> <div>(416) 533-1635</div> <div><a href="http://www.greenontario.org/" EUDORA=AUTOURL>www.greenontario.org</a> </div> <div>Chris Winter, Executive Director</div> Lois Corbett, President </html>