TORONTO – Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty should spend less time
posing for photo ops with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and more time
working to restore full funding to the province’s beleaguered environmental and
natural resource programs, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union said
today.
“There’s something seriously wrong with this picture,” said
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas. “On the one hand we have the premier
rolling out the red carpet for Gov. Schwarzenegger and saluting his
environmental record in California, and on the other hand we have the report of
our own Environmental Commissioner which took the McGuinty government to task
for its failure to fully fund the ministries of the environment and natural
resources.
“Photo ops are no substitute for the crisis we face in under
funding vital public services.”
In his report released last month, titled “Doing Less with
Less,” Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller revealed that per capita
government spending on the two ministries responsible for environmental
management has declined 34 per cent over the past 15 years.
“In 1992-93, the ministries of the environment and of natural
resources accounted for $1.77 of every $100 spent by Queen’s Park. Today, that
amount has shrunk to about 68 cents,” said Thomas.
“This is the real issue that needs addressing and the solution
is a made-in-Ontario one.”
