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February 23, 2001
Renewing the MOE Workshops start this week
Management at the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has authorized OPSEU to
hold six Renewing the MOE workshops across Ontario in the workplace and on
worktime.
The workshops are for MOE staff whose work involves water issues. For staff
who cannot attend the workshops, a survey
(.pdf
file) was e-mailed Feb. 21 to all 1100 OPSEU
members at the MOE.
The workshops and survey ask members to speak from their knowledge and experience to
recommend ways that the MOE can ensure Ontario’ drinking water is safe in the
future.
OPSEU will draw on members’ comments to submit recommendations to the
Walkerton Inquiry. The recommendations will be in the form of a research paper
that will go to the Inquiry by mid-April. The paper will provide an alternative
vision for the MOE to the one proposed in the Val Gibbons report, Managing
the Environment, released Feb. 7.
The workshops are being held 12 noon to 4:30pm this week and next in Toronto,
Thunder Bay, Hamilton, London and Kingston. Two workshops were scheduled for
Toronto to gather input from staff at 125 Resources Rd and MOE workplaces along
the Yonge Street -St. Clair Avenue West corridor.
The first workshop was held Tuesday at 125 Resources Road with lab and other
Environmental Sciences and Standards Division staff. It was a great success.
A project team of OPSEU members is directing the Renewing the MOE project.
They have contacted members in the six locations to invite them to the
workshops.
| Project team member |
Workshop |
| Dallas Takeuchi |
Feb. 20 125 Resources Rd. Toronto |
| Bill Tobin |
Feb. 23 135 St. Clair Ave. W. Toronto |
| Doug McDougall |
Feb. 26 Thunder Bay |
| Tracey Boyd |
Feb. 28 Hamilton |
| Greg Powers |
March 1 London |
| Mike Ladouceur |
March 5 Kingston |
Renewing the MOE project to receive funding
Commissioner Dennis O’Connor has recommended that our Renewing the MOE
research paper receives funding. The Ministry of the Attorney General has
approved the recommendation and will provide OPSEU $25,000 to help pay for
research costs.
Two week delay at Inquiry examining the
government’s role
The hearings examining the government’s role in the tragic events of
Walkerton will begin March 5, as originally scheduled. The Inquiry will hear
evidence the week of March 5 on the Certificates of Approval process. It will
then take a month-long break, two weeks longer than originally anticipated. It
won’t start hearing evidence on the rest of the issues involving the
government’s role until April 9.
Send in your concerns about the approvals process
As mentioned above, the Inquiry will hear evidence on the granting of
Certificates of Approval the week of March 5.
If you have any concerns or comments about Certificates of Approval that you
think should be raised at the Inquiry, please e-mail them to Megan Park at
OPSEU,
mpark@opseu.org.
OPSEU has standing at the Inquiry in the phase examining the government’s
role. Our standing is as a member of a bargaining agents’ coalition with the
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Professional Engineers of the
Government of Ontario (PEGO).
Please post and distribute the
pipeline
Distribution is by e-mail only to members on our e-mail list, so please make
copies for OPSEU members in your workplace and/or post the pipeline on
your union bulletin board.
We have attempted to get one e-mail contact for each MOE and OCWA workplace.
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 www.opseu.org/walkerton/index.htm
and the official Inquiry website at
www.walkertoninquiry.com.
Return to Walkerton
Inquiry Index Page
