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Cracking down on water pollution from raw sewage is a “morality” issue that must be done in partnership between governments, federal Environment Minister John Baird said Monday.
Baird made the comments after several cities expressed concern about the departure of former environment minister Jim Prentice, who they believed was starting to understand their concerns about financing waste-water system upgrades and improvements required by the regulations.
Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly has said that, without adequate financial support, the regulations would result in the “single largest municipal tax increase in Canadian history.”
Others have warned that it could force them to slash other spending on maintaining roads, bridges or services like public transit.
But Baird, who will meet with municipal representatives later this week, stressed that it was essential to resolve the waste-water issue.
“It is not an environmental issue,” he said Monday. “It is a morality question to be dumping … what essentially is raw sewage into our lakes, rivers, oceans and streams.”
He added that the federal government had already provided some financial support through various infrastructure programs and was prepared to continue when the existing programs expire.
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