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January 21, 2002
Putting the government to the test at the bargaining table
OPSEU will put to the test at the bargaining table the Conservative government’s commitment to learning from the terrible lesson of Walkerton.
OPSEU president Leah Casselman was in Walkerton on Friday for the release of Justice O’Connor’s report. OPSEU had official standing at the Inquiry and contributed 10 submissions to its work.
“Justice O’Connor has confirmed what we have been saying all along: that the way this government carried out privatization of the Ministry of the Environment’s (MOE) labs contributed to the tragedy, and that cuts and layoffs at the MOE made it less likely that the government would be able to prevent it,” Casselman said.
The government ignored repeated warnings from OPSEU members and others that its program of budget cuts and privatization put public safety and the environment at risk. OPSEU’s report “Nothing Left to Cut”, of January, 1997, detailed the effects of the devastating cuts to the MOE. The government did not listen.
“Ontarians know now that, after six-and-a-half years of cuts, layoffs, privatization, and mismanagement at the highest level, it’s time to rebuild the public service and to restore its ability to protect public safety and the public interest,” Casselman said. “All of our demands in this round of bargaining are built around the idea of
rebuilding and renewing the public service.
“Our negotiations are now entering a critical phase. We will put this government to the test.”
The union has tabled demands related to staffing levels and has called for a moratorium on the contracting-out of government services. A further demand calls on the government to enact the “whistleblowing” legislation first written into the Public Service Act in 1993.
Tell us how the government should implement O’Connor’s recommendations
OPSEU members on the Environment Ministry’s Employees Relations Committee (MERC) want your suggestions as to how the government should implement four key recommendations of the Walkerton Inquiry report.
Recommendation 17 calls for more resources for the MOE’s inspections program. Recommendations 26, 27 and 28 call for enhanced training for MOE staff. To read the recommendations go to: http://www.walkertoninquiry.com/
The government has responded to the recommendations: http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/html/cad/wndc.htm The government says that adequate resources will be provided to the inspections program but does not provide any detail as
to what those resources will be.
1. What do you think a revamped inspections program should look like?
2. How many more staff are required?
3. What tools and other supports do they need?
The government says it’s currently assessing training needs.
4. What training needs do you have? Please be as specific as possible.
The government says 78 environmental officers have taken its five-day course on inspecting communal water systems.
5. Has everybody who needs the training had the chance to take the course?
6. Have you taken the course?
7. What do you think of it?
8. Is five days enough time to give you the information you need to do an inspection?
Please e-mail your responses to Megan Park, OPSEU Campaigns Officer: mpark@opseu.org. The MERC will incorporate your suggestions into a report they’ll present to senior MOE management.
Thank you to MOE and OCWA staff for your contribution
As a party with standing, OPSEU helped influence the Inquiry’s report. We provided evidence and documents. We suggested topic areas and witnesses for the Inquiry to call.
Our information came from you – the members. MOE staff told us that the Ministry is under-resourced and reactive. We told the Inquiry in our final submissions that the Ministry needs more resources and must be more proactive to prevent environmental disasters.
Our submissions are directly reflected in Justice O’Connor’s findings that the Ministry’s under-resourced and reactive approach to monitoring Walkerton’s water supply helped to cause the tragedy. He recommended adequate resources and a more proactive approach by the Ministry.
The Environment Ministry’s MERC and the MOE Project Team were key contributors to OPSEU’s participation in the Inquiry. These OPSEU members provided a valuable insight into the Ministry and how it could perform better. Thank you for your contribution. And thank you to all other MOE and OCWA staff who responded to our surveys, contributed
to our submissions and participated in our Renewing the MOE workshops.
Justice O’Connor will release his second report in a couple of months recommending ways to ensure the future safety of Ontario’s drinking water. OPSEU made 10 submissions with 100 recommendations to the Inquiry’s Part Two process.
Walkerton report highlights need to rebuild the public service
The Walkerton Inquiry report shows that the current government can’t be trusted and highlights the need to renew public services. The Common Sense Revolution contributed to the deaths and illnesses of the people of Walkerton.
The indented paragraphs are direct quotes from the report.
The Government shares responsibility
The Government bears responsibility for the tragedy.
At the Inquiry, the government argued that I should find that Stan Koebel was the sole cause of the tragedy in Walkerton and that I should also find that government failures, if any, played no role – the suggestion being that if it were not for Stan Koebel’s failures, the tragedy would not have happened. I reject that argument
completely. It totally misconceives the role of the MOE as overseer of communal water systems, a role that is intended to include ensuring that water operators and facilities perform satisfactorily. (page 268)
The Koebels engaged in incompetent and dangerous practices for years. They didn’t have the right monitoring equipment in place and they failed to take the needed samples.
The MOE’s approvals and inspections procedures should have required the Koebels to clean up their act. The MOE should have required the installation of the proven automatic monitoring equipment at the well and ensured the Koebels complied with proper operating procedures. But the MOE failed to do its job.
Budget cuts contributed to the tragedy
The 1995/96 budget reductions made the situation worse. The Ministry was handicapped by the cuts. They made needed reviews and follow up inspections less likely (page 318). The lack of a computer system contributed to the worsening situation by denying staff needed evidence about the pattern of problems (page 350).
…in the case of the MOE’s approvals and inspections programs, the budget reductions are indirectly linked to the events in May 2000 in that they made it less likely that the MOE would pursue proactive measures that would have prevented or limited the tragedy. (page 406)
The Ministry needs more resources to do its job properly.
I will be addressing the budget reductions in the course of the Part 2 report of this Inquiry, and I will be making recommendations concerning the need to ensure that the MOE has adequate resources to allow it to carry out its role as a regulator of drinking water systems. (page 409)
The Common Sense Revolution prevented the government from enacting the necessary regulation
Once the testing of municipal water samples was privatized, the government should have enacted a regulation requiring the private labs to notify the public authorities about samples showing E. coli in the water. This failure contributed to the Walkerton tragedy because it delayed response to the contamination. This failure was rooted in
the Common Sense Revolution.
I do not intend to comment on the merits of the government’s decision to privatize laboratory testing. That was a policy decision that was open to the government to make as part of its budget reduction program. (page 392)
I am satisfied that the failure to enact a notification regulation resulted, at least in part, from the regulatory culture of the government elected in June 1995…The regulatory culture of the MOE, and of the government generally, discouraged the enactment of a new regulation to make the notification protocol for adverse
drinking water results legally binding on municipal water operators and on private laboratories. (page 392-393)
The government’s “distaste for regulation” (page 395) contributed to the tragedy.
Cabinet failed to assess the risks and bears responsibility
The Cabinet never undertook a proper assessment of the risks resulting from the budget cuts and privatization.
Although evidence was given at the Inquiry by senior civil servants, the Minister of the Environment, and the Premier that the risks were considered and that conclusions were reached that the risks were considered manageable, no analysis appears to have been made of the specific nature, scope, or extent of the risks or of how
they could be managed. (page 411)
Justice O’Connor’s comments on the state of the public service
Justice O’Connor commented on training and the recruitment and retention of staff.
On several occasions, MOE documents expressed concern about the lack of technical training. Most recently, an MOE human resources plan in 2000-2001 reported that the MOE has difficulties attracting and retaining skilled personnel in a number of areas. Science professionals were identified as a priority for the next few years.
As such, special efforts should be made to recruit, develop, and retain individuals in designated science positions. Technical training within the MOE is clearly an essential part of ensuring that an adequate base of technical knowledge exists in the ministry.
The MOE’s human resources plan recognized that the MOE competes with other government and private sector organizations to retain technical staff. Skilled personnel often leave the MOE after they have developed their knowledge and expertise. Also, the demographics of MOE staffing indicate that many technical specialists will
retire within the next few years. (page 354)
Recommendations on the future of the Ontario Public Service (OPS)
Justice O’Connor made a number of recommendations related to the OPS in his report.
Recommendation 17
The government should ensure that adequate resources are provided to ensure that these inspections are thorough and effective. (page 502)
Recommendation 25
The MOE should proceed expeditiously to complete the design and implementation of the management information system now under development (that is, the Integrated Development System, or IDS)…(page 503)
Recommendation 26
A full needs assessment for training should be undertaken for MOE technical staff, and a component of that assessment should focus on communal drinking water. (page 504)
Recommendation 27
The MOE, on the basis of the needs assessment, should develop and maintain both introductory and advanced mandatory courses for environmental officers pertaining to communal drinking water systems. (page 504)
Recommendation 28
The MOE should devote sufficient resources to technical training…(page 504)
Further recommendations for renewing the public service can be expected in O’Connor’s second report, due in two months.
How to get in touch with us
To get on our e-mail list or talk to us about the Inquiry, contact Megan Park at 1-800-268-7376 ext. 207 or mpark@opseu.org.
Check regularly http://www.opseu.org/walkerton/index.htm and the Walkerton Inquiry website at http://www.walkertoninquiry.com/
Original authorized by Leah Casselman, president
Return to Walkerton
Inquiry Index Page
