For Immediate Release:
May 18, 2006
PC Caucus Rejects Legislation that Breaks McGuinty’s Water Promises and Hurts Rural Communities
Toronto – Queen’s Park: The McGuinty Liberals’ Broken Water Promises Act does not deliver – it is yet another broken promise. The Progressive Conservative Caucus voted today against the Liberals “Broken Water Promises Act” as it will have serious repercussions in rural Ontario and breaks a key election promise made to the people of this province.
“Dalton McGuinty promised in the election campaign to implement all of the recommendations of Justice O’Connor’s report,” said Laurie Scott, PC Environment Critic. “Just like his pledge not to raise taxes, Dalton McGuinty has completely disregarded this promise as well. This legislation should be about creating viable, sustainable solutions to protect our drinking water supply, unfortunately, it falls short of the mark.”
The Conservative government moved quickly following the Walkerton tragedy to implement over 50 of Justice O’Connor’s recommendations, meanwhile the Liberal government has been dragging their feet for over 2 years. The Liberal Government’s complete disregard for Justice O’Connor’s recommendation # 78 is a slap in the face to the taxpayer of Ontario. The resolution states: “The provincial government should ensure that programs related to the safety of drinking water are adequately funded.”
Contrary to Justice O’Connor’s recommendation, the McGuinty Liberals’ legislation ensures the taxpayer will once again shoulder the responsibility for new water regulations that should rightfully be shared with the province. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario stated in their Environmental Bill of Rights submission that, “AMO continues to have substantive issues with the lack of a municipal role in areas of policy development and, in the areas of implementation, having a substantive, but apparently unfunded mandate.”
“The province has set aside $67.5 million for plan development, and yet there are zero dollars allocated for implementation – this places Ontario businesses and municipalities at a competitive disadvantage,” stated water specialist and Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition (OFEC) member Chris Attema.
“There is no question that the Liberal government’s Broken Water Promises Act is divisive; it pits neighbour against neighbour and smaller municipalities against their agricultural communities. This legislation also fails to reasonably address the essential issue of having a clean and safe source water supply,” concludes Christine Elliott, Whitby-Ajax M.P.P. .
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For more information contact:
Christine Elliott, M.P.P
Whitby-Ajax
416.325.1331 |
