Session: 39:1
Date: 4-Dec-2007

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Ms. Laurie Scott: My question is to the Minister of the Environment. Today the Environmental Commissioner released another tough report on your government's record on the environment. In response to the report, your cabinet colleague Minister Caplan suggested to the Globe and Mail newspaper this about the Environmental Commissioner, and I quote: "Clearly, he's wrong." My question to the Minister of the Environment is this: Do you agree with what Minister Caplan said when he stated that the Environmental Commissioner is clearly wrong?

Hon. John Gerretsen: I'd like to thank the member opposite for her question. As the Premier has already stated, we accept the report that the Environmental Commissioner has brought forward. We always look forward to the reports of any independent officers of this Legislature. We like their advice. We will obviously study the report in great detail. But we're encouraged by some of the very positive statements he made in the report about what this government has actually done over the last four years, when you're well aware of the fact that in the eight years prior to that, absolutely nothing was done with respect to many of the projects that have already been mentioned. I will go into greater detail during the supplementary question.

Ms. Laurie Scott: Minister, the Environmental Commissioner has stated that your government needs to step back and rethink your strategy in terms of putting infrastructure over environment with respect to urban growth. To date, your strategy is to step back and blame anyone within reach.

But let me quote again from the Globe and Mail and again from Minister Caplan, that "The federal government are the ones who decide what the immigration levels are," and Ontario is simply dealing with it.

To the Minister of the Environment: Do you agree with Minister Caplan that the failure of your government's growth plan and the environmental consequences of that failure are the fault of new Ontarians and the federal government?

Hon. John Gerretsen: As the member well knows, the projections are that in the province of Ontario we expect to get about three and a half to four million more people in this province over the next 25 years. In order to accommodate that, we put in some very aggressive plans.

First of all, we put into effect the greenbelt plan that's going to protect the size of PEI: 1.8 million acres of land. Secondly, we put together a growth plan to make sure that those people who are coming to this area will be accommodated.
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We also put into effect a water protection plan to make sure that the sources of water are protected, which, by the way, you did absolutely nothing about.

I might just remind you what the commissioner said in 2002, when you were in government. He stated the following: "The water quality monitoring system has largely been abandoned by your government. I suspect that the problem may be worse than ever." As a matter of fact, you have done absolutely nothing about supporting public transit.

We are very proud of our record of accomplishment over the last four years. There's a lot of work that's been done, there's a lot more work to do, and we're-