Mayors encouraged that environmental commissioner understands their concerns
By Bill Rea

The province has some great ideas for environmental protection in Ontario, but municipalities have not been given the necessary equipment to act upon them.

Ontario's Environment Commissioner Gord Miller realizes that, and that was good news Friday for the Greater Toronto Countryside Mayors Alliance.

King Mayor Margaret Black was particularly vocal in her praise of Miller.

Miller himself handed a compliment to the mayors, pointing out this is "where the real stuff is happening at the provincial level."

Miller commented on a number of issues in his address.

He talked about sustainable planning, pointing out the province has been deciding that municipalities will be expected to handle increased populations, but it has not been asking if they have the necessary infrastructure in place, in terms of water, sewers, roads, etc., to deal with the growth.

"These are not considered a priority," he remarked, adding it's a reverse of the planning methods used in the 1970s and '80s. "It's a matter of which way you approach planning."

He also said the provincial policies are offering new challenges and problems for municipalities. "You're going to have to address them,' he said.

Miller cited the examples of the provincial Greenbelt, pointing out municipal planning documents have to be brought into conformity. That carries a cost, as does the enforcement of the Greenbelt. Miller stressed he wants to see these areas protected, adding it would be tragic if that proved impossible because municipalities weren't able to do the job.

When it comes to solving a problem like that, Miller admitted he had "not a lot of answers for you."

But he did have some ideas of his own, which he agreed might not go over well with those in government, such as putting people and jobs someplace other than the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Miller is from North Bay, and he said they would gladly accept a few thousand more people and jobs up there.

"The whole focus is just on the Greater golden horseshoe," Miller remarked.

Black said she was pleased to hear someone articulating the concerns she's had, especially when it comes to the Greenbelt. She told Miller she's had concerns about the Greenbelt from the start. "I said, 'don't do a Greenbelt: Plan Ontario'" she remarked, adding she warned of the potential problems of leap-frogging development, which Miller commented on too.

"Our planning costs have gone up dramatically," Black observed, pointing to the expense of providing firefighting services to handle the increased traffic loads on Highways 9 and 400. As well, maintaining the rural roads is costly too, especially with the increased use they are experiencing. In addition, Black pointed out there is a lot of land surrounding King that is slated for development, but has not yet seen it. That means the demands on the Township's resources are going to increase even more. The result, she argued, could be the opposite effect of what the province was hoping for when these policies were brought it.

"I'm not sure what the government's trying to accomplish with this," Black commented, but she said King will be getting little growth while being put to plenty of expenses dealing with traffic, pollution, etc.

"I'm the commissioner," Miller said simply. "I can't fix that."

"Acknowledging the problems and talking about them is a first step to solving them in some degree," Black added.

Miller also agreed the development pressures facing the Whitebelt means infrastructure is going to be forced into the Greenbelt.

Caledon's CAO Doug Barnes expressed concerns over municipalities being expected to provide what he called the "environmental sink" for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). He pointed out Caledon has to take care of parts of the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine for the benefit of others in the GTA. He added the Town is required to do and does more to address water quality issues than other places.

"We're providing a huge environmental benefit to the GTA," he declared, but added the Town is not given any financial tools to do it.

Miller observed a lot of policies are made with good intentions, and are based on the good will of people and groups, who end up being punished. He agreed when the province came up with the Greenbelt, "they didn't think all of the stuff through."

He suggested the Alliance come up with a brief, concise statement of the concerns they have for the Greenbelt, Whitebelt, leap-frogging development and other problems.

"A clear enunciation of these things would be a very useful document for me," he commented. "It would be a good start to really clearly enunciate the problems as we see them."

Dealing with matters of air quality, he said there are two areas of concern there.

One dealt with the approval process applied to industries that cause pollution. The public can get upset when a new industry is allowed to establish itself because of the emissions it gives off, when the real problems might be with other industries in the area. The new industries, which might be following the highest standards for emission, can find themselves taking the blame, because Miller observed that irate residents will get upset over something that's just being added to the area.

He called for a much broader approach to these issues, realizing that new standards are in effect. He also stressed the need for municipalities to embrace that philosophy. Miller said they have to understand that the newest facility could also be the cleanest one on the block.

Miller also commented on the Regional Air Quality Index, observing that it's useful, but also comes with a number of flaws.

For one thing, it's regional, meaning air quality reports cover a vast area. The quality might measure high in some parts of a region, but that might not be the case around a major traffic corridor, where there could be a lot of local pollution.

The problem, he said, is people might be told the air is good on a given day in their area, meaning they are encouraged to get out and run or cycle. But there could well be places in that area where that kind of activity would be a bad idea.

The idea of the air index is some 30 years old, Miller commented, as he pointed to the need to have the province take another look at it, accepting that conditions might differ in certain parts of a given area.

Clarington Councillor Ron Hooper brought up the energy from waste facility planned by both York and durham Regions for his area.

Miller said it's possible to have such a facility with acceptable emission standards, but the real issue is what kind of materials are put in it, and what is not allowed. He said the province have to come up with across-the-board standards.

"That's the real issue," he declared. "Unfortunately, that's not the one the public is talking about."

He added consideration has to be given to the amount of diesel emissions coming from the trucks hauling the garbage to Michigan.

Miller also commented on the health of the great lakes, saying there have been agreements worked out with the various American states bordering on them, but they are still going through a ratification process. "Things don't look good with Wisconsin," he said, adding it only takes one state to opt out to have the agreements fall apart.

Major drawing of water from the lakes is a problem, as Miller pointed out if a state like Wisconsin is allowed to take a lot of water, there's little than can prevent Arizona from doing the same (the technology to do it is feasible, he said). He added it's hard to know how much water Canadians can be allowed to take and still try and convince the Americans not to take too much.

In terms of water quality, Miller said the great lakes can handle projected amounts of properly-treated sewage. That proper treatment is a crucial consideration, he added.