TORONTO - The McGuinty government must act
immediately to restore full funding to the Ministry of Natural
Resources and the Ministry of the Environment on the heels of a
devastating report released today by Ontario’s environmental
commissioner, says the president of the Ontario Public Service
Employees Union.
“The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario has hit
the nail firmly on the head: for more than a decade these two
ministries have been thoroughly gutted of jobs and money because
Queen’s Park has ignored the urgent needs of our lakes, rivers,
forests and air quality,” said OPSEU President Warren “Smokey”
Thomas.
“Our membership has witnessed the steady loss of
skilled personnel and funding at the MNR and the MOE. The
Commissioner’s report is a wake-up call to the people of Ontario
that it’s time to save these crucial public services before Ontario
loses its natural treasures because of willful neglect.”
Thomas said the environmental commissioner’s
findings echo those of OPSEU’s ‘Save the MNR’ campaign, launched in
September, 2006. The campaign has drawn widespread attention to the
MNR’s chronic under funding and job losses.
MNR staff in several northern communities have
organized charity BBQ’s, bottle-return drives and bake sales to
raise money for the Ministry. Budget cutbacks have meant that MNR
enforcement vehicles often sit idle because the Ministry lacks money
to put gasoline in their tanks.
In his 83-page report, Environmental Commissioner
Gord Miller said the two ministries “have suffered a gradual but
steady erosion of funding, staffing and expertise. As a result the
ministries of Environment and Natural Resources are faltering in a
number of core functions such as inspection, enforcement and
monitoring.
“At a time of unprecedented public concern for the
health of the planet, Ontarians may find it hard to believe that
these two ministries are today struggling with fewer resources than
in the early 1990s, but that is unfortunately the case,” commented
Miller.
He noted that per capita spending at the MOE has
declined by 43 per cent between 1992-93 and 2006-07, and by 32 per
cent in the same period at the MNR.
Miller calculated that about 4,000 jobs have been
cut at the two ministries between the early 1990s and 2006-07.
“The loss of these skilled positions is shameful and
a smear on Ontario’s reputation for protecting its fragile
environment and abundant natural resources,” said Thomas.
