Ontario’s new environment minister is a seasoned politician who will have his work cut out for him, say environmental groups.
Kingston and the Islands MPP John Gerretsen was sworn in to the high-profile portfolio yesterday at Queen’s Park.
“I really look forward to it. It’s the one area where I think people are more concerned [all the time],” Gerretsen told the Whig-Standard.
At 65, Gerretsen has 12 years of experience in provincial politics. He spent the last four years as minister of municipal affairs and housing.
Gerretsen said Premier Dalton McGuinty telephoned him Monday night to inform him of his new job.
During their conversation, McGuinty said one reason Gerretsen was going to the environment post was that, as minister of municipal affairs, he had been responsible for the Greenbelt Plan to permanently protect 1.8 million acres around the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Gerretsen also shepherded the Strong Communities Act to reform land-use planning in the province.
Such work helped prepare him for his new position, said Gerretsen.
“It’s going to be a tough ministry – there are issues there and conflicts between the development industry on the one side and environmentalists on the other side.
“But I hope to bring the kind of approach that I’ve been able to bring to other situations as well … to bring some of these sides together and work out solutions that are to the benefit of everyone in this province. ...Ultimately, that’s what it’s all about – quality of life.”
Local environmental groups are encouraged by the new minister’s strong ties to Kingston and hope he’ll be an advocate.
Mark Mattson of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, an environmental justice charity based in Toronto, said it’s appropriate that Gerretsen is taking over the environment file because of the fact that so many key environment decisions will be made in eastern Ontario in the next few years.
Among them, he said, is the wasteincineration proposal for the Lafarge cement plant just west of Kingston. It will have huge implications for how the province approves air permits.
The Liberals’ $40-billion plan to build new nuclear power plants and to close Ontario’s four remaining coal-fired plants by 2014 will affect the nuclear power plant at Darlington and the nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Port Hope, both on the border of Gerretsen’s riding, Mattson said.
“We’re talking about massive amounts of public money, all of which will be going into facilities that will require all kinds of permits for air and water and are known to have [environmental] impacts. The question is can those impacts be justified?” said Mattson.
“It’s a huge position. I think it will be a great success for Mr. Gerretsen just to get through it over the next four years.”
Mattson said new ethanol plants proposed along Lake Ontario and the municipal sewage standards that cities and towns must meet are two other big issues.
Kingston is one of a handful of Ontario municipalities that diverts untreated sewage into the Great Lakes because of aging infrastructure.
“There are a lot of different parties in Ontario pushing for more money for infrastructure to upgrade our sewage standards,” said Mattson. “This is something that John Gerretsen knows a lot about as [former] mayor of Kingston … I’m sure he’s been well briefed on the need for infrastructure to protect our Great Lakes.”
Mattson hopes that Gerretsen, as the government’s point person responsible for dealing with those issues, will give citizens more of a say instead of all decisions being made in Toronto without public participation.
“I think this is such a big responsibility for Mr. Gerretsen,” he said. “Despite his long history in politics, I think this position will ultimately define his political life. I really do. That’s how important environmental issues are right now.”
Rick Lindgren of the Canadian Environmental Law Association agreed that Gerretsen has a lot on his plate and looks forward to working with him.
“I think he’ll find there’s no shortage of work to be done in that portfolio,” he said.
Lindgren, who’s involved in an appeal against Lafarge’s plans to burn tires and other waste at its Bath plant, said he views Gerretsen’s first priority to be the continuation of work already being done in the ministry, particularly with the passing of the Clean Water Act and its implementation.
He would also like to see Gerretsen ensure that McGuinty’s election promise to enact legislation on toxics-use reduction, a law that would help consumers identify and avoid products containing toxic substances, is actually passed.
“As well, it’s legislation that could be used to require industry to come up with plans to reduce or avoid their use of toxic substances,” said Lindgren. “It’s a very high priority and we look forward to working with Mr. Gerretsen on that initiative.”
He said Gerretsen’s experience as minister of municipal affairs will definitely come in handy in his new job.
“I expect he acquired a good understanding of the linkages of land-use planning decisions and ecosystem health and public health and safety,” said Lindgren. “He’ll have to use that understanding in his new portfolio because the same issues come to bear. Now, he’ll be making important decisions on things like landfills, incinerators and other environmentally significant facilities. I’m hoping that he recognizes the very significant impacts those decisions can have on health and safety.”
Kelley Hineman, vice-president of the Loyalist Environmental Coalition, a local group involved in the Lafarge appeal, said he’s hoping that having a local advocate will help the cause.
“He’s very approachable and he seems to take the causes of the people to the cabinet,” he said. “It’s a real pleasure to hear that John Gerretsen is minister of the environment. I’m quite excited about it.”
Hineman plans to contact Gerretsen about the tire-burning.
“I look forward to having future conversations with John about reference baseline testing on Lafarge so we can analyze exactly what’s coming out of the stack, so we can employ the best technology for the purposes of burning in the future,” he said.