Press Release from the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy
The 2001 Budget and the Environment
(For immediate release: May 7, 2001) On May 2, 2001, the Ontario
Minister of the Environment made fifteen commitments that the provincial
government described as actions that would protect the environment.
The Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELAP) welcomes
this announcement, and hopes the Finance Minister will, in the May 9, 2001
Budget, demonstrate the government’s real commitment by allocating
specific amounts tied to the proposals.
A few background figures:
In 1994/95, the operating budget for the Ministry of the Environment was:
$258,000,000
In 1997/98, the operating budget for the Ministry of the Environment was:
$160,000,000
In 2000/2001 the operating budget for the Ministry of the Environment was:
$158,000,000
In 1994/95, the capital budget for the Ministry of the Environment was:
$271,000,000
In 1997/98, the capital budget for the Ministry of the Environment was:
$98,000,000
In 2000/2001, the capital budget for the Ministry of the Environment was:
$65,000,000
In 1994 the total full-time staff allotment of the Ministry of the
Environment was: 2,430
In 1997/98 the total full-time allotment of the Ministry of the Environment
was: 1,678
In 2000 the total full-time staff allotment of the Ministry of the
Environment was: 1,277
The following figures are CIELAP’s estimates for the budget required to
adequately deliver the fifteen programs or commitments to renew Ontario’s
environmental protection programs.
| Proposal
|
Estimated Budget 1
|
| #1 -- Cabinet Environment Policy
Committee |
$100,000 |
| #2 -- Associate Deputy Minister |
$400,000 |
| #3 -- Amendments to strengthen and modernize
Ontario’s environmental protection
laws |
$3.5 million |
#4 -- Operation Clean Water – build on
success
Infrastructure |
$240 million 2 |
|
Capital upgrades – lab equipment
|
$12 million 3 |
#5 -- Implementation of a comprehensive,
multi-disciplinary strategy to protect
groundwater with local conservation authorities,
municipalities and other partners
Conservation
Authority Budgets (36 x $500,000) |
$18 million 4 |
| Municipal Transfer payments (30 x $500,000) |
$15 million 5 |
#6 -- Enforce operation Clean Water with
regular and frequent sampling,
stringent treatment requirements, more transparency
and public access to information (see #4).
Inspection
and enforcement staff |
$10 million 6 |
| #7 -- High-tech monitoring vessels 3
x $3,000,000 |
$9 million 7 |
| #8 -- "Encourage border states to
reduce their emissions" Costs of
litigation |
$1.5 million 8 |
| #9 -- Air emission reporting programme and
mandatory monitoring and reporting
Inspection
and enforcement staff
|
$10 million |
|
Database Development, Management |
$7 million |
| #10 -- Expand Drive Clean Approximate
program budget for Drive Clean |
$2 million |
| (Estimated
Revenues from Drive Clean |
$60 Million 9) |
| #11 -- Comprehensive environmental
monitoring and reporting strategy –
as a component of an overall environmental
knowledge management strategy. Developing a strategy |
$2 million |
| #12 -- Enhancing environmental SWAT team
approach Upgrade and expand existing SWAT team |
$14 million 10 |
| #13 -- Related Technical innovations include
inspection and enforcement activities
(see #4, #9 and #11) Hire necessary
senior scientific staff |
$5 million |
| #14 -- Legislative committee to investigate
environmentally friendly sustainable
fuel alternatives, report back in
twelve months, including budget for consultation
and research |
$1.6 million |
| #15 -- Gibbons recommendation re knowledge
management and emerging issues.See numbers 4, 6, 11 and 13. These
initiatives should create the technical and scientific capacity to carry
this out. What else is needed Is an institutionalized process of
identifying emerging issues and formulating policy responses. |
$5 million |
These estimates suggest that unless the Government restores at least $100
million in capital and operating expenses to the protection of Ontario’s
environment, they are just talking about protecting the environment, not doing
anything about it.
For additional information contact:
Anne Mitchell, Executive Director of CIELAP at 416-923-3529 ext. 24
1 All figures in this budget are
estimated from figures for existing, analogous programs, from Ministry documents
describing similar programs or other sources where estimates were provided on
the basis of the Minister’s description of the initiatives (the high-tech
monitoring vessel, for example; see note 7 below)
2 Superbuild allocation for 2000 for OSTAR was $240
million.
3 Based on estimate to replace all 25-year-old lab equipment at
Provincial lab at 125 Resources Road
4 Based on 50% funding of CA budget by province, and average
annual budget of each CA of $1 million.
5 Number of municipalities involved calculated on estimate of 25
municipalities in major aquifers/water sheds/shores of Great Lakes and five
municipalities on major aquifers/watersheds.
6 Based on estimated of 135 staff required at approximate annual
salary of $60,000, plus support staff
7 Based on estimate of MIL Engineering in Ottawa to the Canadian
Coast Guard for a similar vessel capable of carrying a five-person crew, plus
estimate of equipping boat with on-board lab equipment. Figure also assumes that
a minimum of three boats would be required to adequately monitor the thousands
of miles of Great Lakes shore and near-shore waters.
8 The province is currently ‘encouraging’ US states to
reduce their emissions by participating in a US EPA prosecution of several dirty
plants in the Ohio Valley.
9 The Ontario Motor Coach Association claims that Drive Clean
actually makes money for the province. See http://www.caaontario.net/letters/letter_jan26_00.htm
Any revenues from Drive Clean should be directed to other programs that clean
the air.
10 A Cabinet Document dated March 14 2000 estimated that a
high-impact SWAT team would be comprised of 138 new staff, with a start up cost
of about $18.5 million and an ongoing annual budget of about $14 million. The
SWAT Team started in September 2000 is smaller than the one proposed; the figure
assumes the ‘upgrade’ will take the SWAT team to the level originally
proposed.
