<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">The provincial government has introduced proposals that would dramatically weaken an already seriously limited environmental assessment process. The Canadian Environmental Law Association, of which I am a board member, has just released a preliminary assessment of these proposed changes. Once it is ready for sign-on, I will notify you. You might also consider sending individual letters in showing how these changes would specifically affect your efforts to protect the environment.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">John</div><div class=""><br class=""><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">------------------------------</div><div class="">John Jackson</div><div class="">17 Major Street</div><div class="">Kitchener N2H 4R1</div><div class="">519-744-7503</div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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<div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">
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<div class="moz-forward-container">CELA blog: <a href="https://cela.ca/ea-is-not-red-tape/" moz-do-not-send="true" class="">https://cela.ca/ea-is-not-red-tape/</a><br class="">
<br class="">
EA is Not Red Tape: The Case against Ontario Bill 197<div class="">July 13, 2020<br class="">
Posted by Richard Lindgren<br class="">
<br class="">
The Ontario government has continued its relentless attack on the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90e18" style="box-sizing:
inherit; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-style: solid;
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ease-in-out;" class="">Environmental Assessment Act</a> (EAA) by recently
introducing Bill 197 (<a href="https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-1/bill-197" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-style:
solid; border-top-color: currentcolor; border-right-color: currentcolor;
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rgb(0, 127, 61); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s
ease-in-out;" class="">COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020</a>).<br class="">
<br class="">
Schedule
6 of Bill 197 proposes almost 80 pages of amendments to the EAA, which
is one of Ontario’s oldest and most important environmental statutes.<br class="">
<br class="">
At
present, the EAA establishes different types of information-gathering
and decision-making processes (i.e. individual EAs, Class EAs, and
sectoral screening processes) that include opportunities for public and
Indigenous engagement at key stages.<br class="">
<br class="">
These
EAA processes have been traditionally applied to wide variety of
environmentally significant undertakings across Ontario, including
landfills, incinerators, hazardous waste facilities, provincial
freeways, timber management on Crown lands, electricity projects, and
municipal roads and sewage works.<br class="">
<br class="">
In
essence, the EAA is a prudent “look before you leap” statute since the
legislation requires an upfront public examination of the potential
ecological, socio-economic, and cultural impacts of proposed
undertakings before they proceed. This precautionary approach enables
informed decisions on whether such undertakings should be approved (or
not), and whether terms or conditions should be imposed to safeguard the
public interest.<br class="">
<br class="">
Over
the past five decades, CELA has been involved in numerous court cases,
public hearings and other administrative proceedings under the EAA on
behalf of low-income individuals and disadvantaged or vulnerable
communities. In our view, while there are opportunities to strengthen
and improve the implementation of the EAA, the statute is fundamentally
sound and has generally helped to ensure the protection, conservation
and wise management of the environment in Ontario.<br class="">
<br class="">
Unfortunately, as outlined in <a href="https://cela.ca/prelim-analysis-sched-6-bill-197-proposed-eaact-changes/" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-style:
solid; border-top-color: currentcolor; border-right-color: currentcolor;
border-left-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent; color:
rgb(0, 127, 61); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s
ease-in-out;" class="">CELA’s preliminary analysis</a> of
Schedule 6, the Ontario government is now proposing a series of
regressive and unacceptable amendments to the EAA program. If enacted,
for example, Schedule 6 will:<br class="">
<ul style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid currentcolor;
list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem 1.5em; padding: 0px;" class="">
<li class="">remove
the automatic application of the EAA to public sector undertakings, and
instead the provincial Cabinet will have unfettered discretion to pass a
new regulation that lists which projects are (or are not) subject to
the Act;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid currentcolor;" class="">re-name
individual EAs as “Comprehensive” EAs, but the Environment Minister
will still be empowered to approve EA Terms of Reference that exclude,
or “scope”, key environmental planning matters (i.e. “need” and
alternatives) from consideration in the EA process;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid currentcolor;" class="">terminate
the 10 currently approved Class EAs, and replace them with as-yet
unknown “streamlined” regulatory requirements; and</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid currentcolor;" class="">significantly
restrict the grounds upon which Ontarians can request “bump-up” or
“elevation” of contentious infrastructure projects from a streamlined EA
to a Comprehensive EA.</li>
</ul>
These
and other problematic changes in Schedule 6 of Bill 197 follow other
recent rollbacks that have been passed or proposed in relation to the
EAA program, including (but not limited to):<br class="">
<ul class="">
<li class=""><a href="https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-0961" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-style:
solid; border-top-color: currentcolor; border-right-color: currentcolor;
border-left-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent; color:
rgb(0, 127, 61); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s
ease-in-out;" class="">removing EAA requirements</a> from forest management
planning;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid currentcolor;" class=""><a href="https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-1804" style="box-sizing:
inherit; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-style: solid;
border-top-color: currentcolor; border-right-color: currentcolor;
border-left-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent; color:
rgb(0, 127, 61); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s
ease-in-out;" class="">exempting projects in all provincial parks and
conservation reserves</a> from any EAA requirements;</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid currentcolor;" class=""><a href="https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-1882" style="box-sizing:
inherit; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-style: solid;
border-top-color: currentcolor; border-right-color: currentcolor;
border-left-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent; color:
rgb(0, 127, 61); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s
ease-in-out;" class="">streamlining EAA requirements for certain provincial
highways and transportation corridors</a>; and</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid currentcolor;" class=""><a href="https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-0614" style="box-sizing:
inherit; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-style: solid;
border-top-color: currentcolor; border-right-color: currentcolor;
border-left-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent; color:
rgb(0, 127, 61); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s
ease-in-out;" class="">modifying EAA requirements for proposed transit projects</a> in
the Greater Toronto Area.</li>
</ul>
CELA
further notes that despite the length and complexity of Bill 197,
Schedule 6 is not proposing any of the legislative changes recommended
in recent years by EA practitioners, academics, non-governmental
organizations, the Auditor General of Ontario, and the Environmental
Commissioner of Ontario.<br class="">
<br class="">
In
addition, Bill 197 contains other Schedules that set out sweeping
changes to a number of other key statutes, including the Drainage
Act, Planning Act, and Building Code Act.<br class="">
<br class="">
In
these circumstances, it appears to CELA that the Ontario government is
proceeding on the mistaken premise that the EAA and other environmental
laws are simply “red tape” that may delay or stop the province’s
economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.<br class="">
<br class="">
In
our view, there is no merit to such claims. CELA further notes that
many of the EAA changes proposed in Bill 197 were first identified in a
governmental discussion paper in mid-2019, long before COVID-19 emerged
in Ontario.<br class="">
<br class="">
CELA
therefore concludes that the de-regulation agenda now being
fast-tracked by the provincial government is inconsistent with the
stated purpose of the EAA (i.e. “betterment” of the people of Ontario),
and it will not address the environmental injustices that have been
exposed (if not exacerbated) by the COVID-19 pandemic. To demonstrate
its commitment to addressing these long-standing inequities, the Ontario
government should withdraw Schedule 6 from Bill 197.<br class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
CELA media release: <a href="https://cela.ca/ontarios-post-covid-economic-recovery-bill-a-big-miss-for-a-green-and-just-recovery/" moz-do-not-send="true" class="">https://cela.ca/ontarios-post-covid-economic-recovery-bill-a-big-miss-for-a-green-and-just-recovery/</a><br class="">
<br class="">
Ontario’s post-COVID economic recovery bill: a big miss for a green and
just recovery</div>
<div class="entry-meta th-items-center th-flex
th-text-secondary-base th-py-xs th-flex-wrap" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-width: 1px 0px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(241, 241, 241) currentcolor; margin-top: 0.9375rem; -webkit-box-align: center; padding-bottom: 0.46875rem; padding-top: 0.46875rem;">J<a href="https://cela.ca/ontarios-post-covid-economic-recovery-bill-a-big-miss-for-a-green-and-just-recovery/" rel="bookmark" style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid
currentcolor; background-color: transparent; color: inherit;
text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out;" class="">uly 13, 2020</a></div><a href="https://cela.ca/ontarios-post-covid-economic-recovery-bill-a-big-miss-for-a-green-and-just-recovery/" rel="bookmark" style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid
currentcolor; background-color: transparent; color: inherit;
text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out;" class="">Toronto – In
an enormous piece of legislation, tabled this week as </a><a href="https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-1/bill-197" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-style:
solid; border-top-color: currentcolor; border-right-color: currentcolor;
border-left-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent; color:
rgb(0, 127, 61); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s
ease-in-out;" class="">Bill 197</a>,
the Ontario government proposes changes to over eleven laws, many of
them directly affecting the health of our communities and environment.
While the stated intent of the bill is a pandemic economic recovery, it
largely ignores worldwide calls for a green and just recovery.<br class="">
<div class="th-content entry-content" style="box-sizing: inherit;
border: 0px solid currentcolor; margin: 1.875rem 0px 0px;">Instead,
the bill includes a smorgasbord of environmental deregulation. In
particular, the bill removes numerous safeguards to ensure procedural
fairness for involvement in environmental decisions that affect the
public.<br class="">
<br class="">
Legal
staff at the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) are
analyzing the bill and will make detailed comments. “Our initial
reaction is disappointment and discouragement, although the bill
contains some measures we can support,” stated Theresa McClenaghan, CELA
Executive Director and Counsel.<br class="">
<br class="">
“While
this government admirably recognized the importance of science-based
responses to the pandemic, it is out of step with public sentiment by
not applying the same science-based approach to its pandemic economic
recovery effort and confronting the twin crises of climate change and
biodiversity loss,” McClenaghan added. “For the most part, the proposed
changes serve to speed up development at the expense of environmental
protection and public participation rights,” she added.<br class="">
<br class="">
“Further,
the many procedural and public participation rights could have greater
impact in low income and vulnerable communities, the same people that
are already disproportionately affected by the pandemic and by existing
or proposed activities with environmental impacts,” she added.<br class="">
<br class="">
“If
enacted, Bill 197 has the potential to weaken numerous environmental
and public health protections in Ontario through changes to the Environmental
Assessment Act, the Planning Act, the Drainage Act, the Building Code
Act, and many other laws,” noted CELA Counsel Richard Lindgren.<br class="">
<br class="">
“In
tabling this omnibus bill the Province has provided no justification
for removing multiple legal accountability and public participation
mechanisms to achieve a post-COVID economic recovery,” Lindgren added.
“Moreover, a common theme across many of these proposed changes is to
remove this accountability by placing new and broad discretionary powers
in the hands of individual Ministers.”<br class="">
<br class="">
CELA’s detailed review of Bill 197 will be posted to our <a href="https://cela.ca/" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-width: 0px
0px 1px; border-style: solid; border-top-color: currentcolor;
border-right-color: currentcolor; border-left-color: currentcolor;
background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 127, 61); text-decoration:
none; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out;" class="">website</a> soon.<br class="">
<br class="">
For more information:<br class="">
<br class="">
<a href="https://cela.ca/bill-197-additional-background-on-changes-proposed-to-specific-laws/" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; border-style:
solid; border-top-color: currentcolor; border-right-color: currentcolor;
border-left-color: currentcolor; background-color: transparent; color:
rgb(0, 127, 61); text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.25s
ease-in-out;" class="">Additional background on changes proposed to specific laws</a><br class="">
<br class="">
For interviews, please contact:<br style="box-sizing: inherit; border:
0px solid currentcolor;" class="">
<ul style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid currentcolor;
list-style: disc; margin: 0px 0px 1.875rem 1.5em; padding: 0px;" class="">
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid currentcolor;" class="">Theresa
McClenaghan, Executive Director and Counsel <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:theresa@cela.ca">theresa@cela.ca</a> (regarding
changes to the Development Charges Act)</li>
<li style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid currentcolor;" class="">Richard
Lindgren, CELA Counsel 613-385-1686 (regarding changes to the Environmental
Assessment Act)</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid
currentcolor;" class="">Ramani Nadarajah, CELA Counsel, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:ramani@cela.ca">ramani@cela.ca</a> (regarding
changes to the Planning Act, Ministerial Zoning Orders)</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid currentcolor;" class="">Anastasia
Lintner, CELA Counsel, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:anastasia@cela.ca">anastasia@cela.ca</a> (regarding changes to the Drainage
Act)</li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; border: 0px solid
currentcolor;" class="">Kerrie Blaise, CELA Counsel, <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:kerrie@cela.ca">kerrie@cela.ca</a> (regarding
changes to the Building Code Act)</li>
</ul></div>CELA preliminary analysis: <a href="https://cela.ca/prelim-analysis-sched-6-bill-197-proposed-eaact-changes/" moz-do-not-send="true" class="">https://cela.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Preliminary-Analysis-Schedule6-Bill-197-July-10-2020.pdf</a><br class="">
</div>
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