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April 25, 2007
Underfunded, overworked;
Report details
province's
short-changing of ministries
Harold Carmichael
- www.thesudburystar.com
Learning that bake sales and barbecues are being
held across the northeast to raise money so that
Ministry of Natural Resources conservation
officers can put gasoline in their trucks didn't
surprise Gord Miller one bit.
"It's coincidental that OPSEU (Ontario Public
Service Employees' Union) and the anglers and
hunters and others have raised the issue at the
same time," said Ontario's Environmental
Commissioner at a press conference Tuesday at
Cambrian College.
"I think it just speaks to the hard fact there
is public awareness in the North. People in the
North know conservation officers. In southern
Ontario, (residents) are not confronted by the
daily fact the trucks are parked in the MNR
lot."
Miller was in the city to release a special
report entitled "Doing Less With Less: How
Shortfalls in Budget, Staffing and In-House
Expertise are Hampering the Effectiveness of the
Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of
Natural Resources."
The 78-page report is addressed to the Ontario
legislature.
The report was released in the North because of
the stronger role the Ministry of Natural
Resources has in this part of the province. The
thrust of Miller's report is that the two
ministries' funding accounts for just one per
cent of all Ontario government spending, yet the
two ministries face more work and more
responsibilities than in the past.
Funding levels with the
two ministries are both well down from the
1992-93 fiscal year.
The Ministry of the Environment's 2006-07
operating budget was down 24 per cent from that
year, while the Ministry of Natural Resources'
2006-07 operating budget was down 18 per cent.
As well, provincial spending per person by the
two ministries is down. With the Ministry of the
Environment, it fell from $39 in 1992-93 to $22
in 2006-07. At the Ministry of Natural
Resources, spending has fallen from $79 to $49
over that period.
Miller said that, while such areas such as
health and education are getting the lion's
share of new money today, a simple step such as
doubling the two ministries' budgets would only
involve one per cent of the total provincial
budget.
"We have to refocus our priorities," he said.
"Our emergency wards (are) clogged with children
having asthma attacks. But the solution is not
more emergency wards. It includes giving the
Ministry of the Environment the resources to
make the air clean ...
"They have become low priority because our
attention has been directed to health care and
education."
Miller said while the Ministry of Natural
Resources has fewer conservation officers to
enforce fishing and hunting regulations, the
Ministry of Environment is facing a backlog of
certificates of approval for companies and their
emissions. New companies seeking approval for
their emissions have to follow tough, new
standards, but companies that have been around
for several decades are following old
guidelines, he said.
"Certificates of approval, or licences to emit,
they are using are way out of date," he said.
"They don't reflect the current standards ... We
have a large backlog of COAs that need to be
brought up to speed and revised. It means that
there are emissions coming out now that would
not be allowed if the COA program was up to
date."
Peter Wall, a Ministry of Natural Resources area
technician based in Hearst and member of OPSEU
Local 638, thanked Miller for bringing to light
the chronic under-funding facing the two
ministries.
"What the report does is completely vindicate
the employees in my ministry who have been
pointing out the problem for years," he said.
Dave Fluri, a Ministry of Natural Resources
biologist in North Bay who attended Miller's
press conference, said he was "pleased to learn
that (under-funding) issue is gaining such
attention."
Gilles Bisson, Timmins-James Bay MPP, who
attended the press conference, said Miller's
report is proof the two ministries are in dire
need of more funding.
"We're passing Endangered Species Legislation,
but there's no money being allocated to the
legislation," he told reporters. "The MNR
doesn't have the funds to make the legislation
work and see it's being followed or for the
people who will be impacted by the loss of their
land."
The NDP MPP said communities in his riding are
dealing with the under-funding situation every
day.
"I'm seeing it on a regular basis in my
constituency," he said. "We are all trying to
wrap ourselves in green. The government is
saying they are environmentally friendly. It's
the public perception. But, when it comes to
providing the funds to make things happen, it is
not happening." hcarmichael@thesudburystar.com
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