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Tory minister , Liberal rival Watson both say Ottawa River cleanup vital
Federal Environment Minister John Baird says it could take 20 years to clean up the sewer mess in the capital region but his government and Ontario are committed to fixing the problem.
“We didn’t get into this situation overnight. We aren’t going to get out of it overnight,” Mr. Baird said yesterday.
“This is going to be a 20-year effort.”
Mr. Baird was at the annual convention of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario with provincial Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson to announce that the federal and Ontario governments will each contribute $362 million to help smaller Ontario communities with capital projects between now and 2014.
The Liberal Mr. Watson and the Conservative Mr. Baird, who each represent Ottawa West-Nepean, said they are co-operating on projects such as building badly needed wastewater plants in small towns and fixing Ottawa’s sewer system.
On Monday, the provincial government gave Ottawa $77.2 million as part of a $1.1-billion payout to cities for infrastructure projects, money the province hopes the city will use to fix the sewer problems. Mr. Baird has promised $20 million toward the work.
Ottawa officials have already begun some smaller projects to reduce the pollution but have said the full solution—separating storm and sanitary sewers—could cost $600 million.
Ottawa has seen a series of sewage overflow and spill incidents into the Ottawa River since 2006 due to aging controls and a sewer system that combines storm and wastewater through much of downtown.
In rainy weather, the system overflows rain and sewage into the river.
Mr. Baird said he wants to see action—not a lot more studies—over the next few years to start to clean up the problem.
Mr. Watson said he wants to see the city’s plan for the sewer system, expected this fall, to ensure that taxpayers are getting good value for the money that will be spent. Mr. Watson said the issue is especially pressing for the two politicians because their riding borders the Ottawa River.
“I care passionately about the quality of our water. I am very committed to ensuring we do more to clean up the Ottawa River,” said Mr. Baird.
For smaller Ontario municipalities, the money announced at the conference yesterday becomes available this fall.
The first batch of grants will involve $100 million each from the federal and provincial governments.
The money comes from the joint Building Canada Fund announced earlier this summer.
Under the deal, Ontario’s municipalities with fewer than 100,000 residents can apply for funds on Sept. 12 and a committee of federal and provincial officials will decide which projects will get support. There are about 200 eligible municipalities in Ontario. Projects might be anything from a wastewater plant to an arena, a community centre or roads.
The municipality must match the federal-provincial contributions by paying one-third of the cost.
Doug Reycraft, outgoing president of the provincial municipalities’ association, said the application process will be quicker and simpler than previous programs. He said the program won’t meet all the needs of the municipalities, when a single water tower can cost a town $3 million, and there are many communities like Merrickville, where sewage plants need to be replaced.
But he said the program is “another step along a long road.”
Jean Perrault, the mayor of Sherbrooke, Que., and president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, said such a program is welcome but that the infrastructure needs across the country are $122 billion.
“It’s a good start but it’s never enough,” said Mr. Perrault.