FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 24, 2002

OPSEU calls for implementation plan for Walkerton Inquiry recommendations

TORONTO - The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is calling on the Ontario government to produce an immediate strategic plan to implement the latest recommendations of the Walkerton Inquiry.

“We are pleased to see that Justice O’Connor has recognized that government has a non-transferable obligation to protect the safety of Ontario’s drinking water,” said Mike Ladouceur, chief steward for the union at the Ministry of Environment in Kingston and a member of the union’s Walkerton project team. “We are, however, concerned about this government’s commitment to implementing the Inquiry’s recommendations. That’s why we want to see action now.”

The union is calling on Environment and Energy Minister Chris Stockwell to put forward an implementation plan that includes:

· a formal mechanism to monitor implementation of the recommendations;

· in-depth consultation about implementation with front-line workers in the Ministry of Environment, the Ontario Clean Water Agency, and other public bodies;

· legal continuation of “whistleblower” protection for public employees involved in the process; and

· a transparent process that is open to scrutiny by the public and the news media.

“The Walkerton Inquiry created an open process that shone the light of day onto the workings of the Ministry of Environment,” said Ladouceur. “The implementation of the report should be just as open so Ontarians can see what their government is doing.”

In May 2001, the Ontario Ministry of Environment won an award from the Canadian Association of Journalists as the “most secretive government department in Canada.”

“Time after time, we have seen this government announce ‘improvements’ to water protection but fail to provide the resources to make them real,” said Ladouceur. “There needs to be a program-by-program assessment of resources that are needed, and then the government has to provide those resources. That is the only way we will truly rebuild our shattered public services.”

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For more information:

Mike Ladouceur (613) 328-6880
Randy Robinson (416) 788-9134