TO: The Hon. Jeff Yurek, Minister, Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks

COPIES TO:
The Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
Ian Arthur, MPP, Environment Critic, New Democratic Party
Bill Walker, MPP, Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound
Emma McIntosh, The National Observer
Sun Times Owen Sound
The Hub Owen Sound

Dear Minister Yurek,

I recognize that the Government of Ontario has a very challenging job dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and I appreciate that you and your government are working very hard to do the best dealing with this enormous crisis. I very much thank for that!

However, I am writing to you because of great concerns regarding the suspension of key environmental protection oversight rules due to the COVID-19 pandemic by the Ontario Government. These changes have been covered in the media over the last weeks, including the National Observer. This decision is particularly troubling since the Conservative Government of Ontario already has a well known negative track record regarding environmental policies. For example Ontario’s environment commissioner warned voters about the Tories’ “frightening” and “inadequate” climate and environment policies (March 2019). And your government has canceled 227 clean energy projects, wound down vital conservation programs, weakened endangered species protections and took away powers from the province’s environmental commissioner, who is meant to hold the government accountable.

In this context it continues to be frightening that the Ontario government uses this pandemic opportunistically by pushing through changes, which subsequently could significantly impact on the environment without consultation or notification of the public. One may be reminded of the Walkerton E-coli Water crises (2000) where the reduction of public and scientific oversight through deregulation by the Conservative Mike Harris Government had catastrophic consequences.

As Covid-19 shows human life, our society, our economy and all our human relations are a lot more vulnerable to unforeseen negative changes than we had expected, and research and science are vital for the outcome of this enormous crisis. Even more, the environment and climate change increasingly need all our attention as we reach points of no return with consequences that outweigh Corona-19 in catastrophic and still unimaginable ways.

Your government set out to improve transparency and accountability, and you are quoted stating that environmental protection is a “vital consideration”.

As the Minister of the Environment, how will you ensure that the environment continues to be such a vital consideration even during this pandemic, and how do you explain that with the suspension of the Environmental Protection rules, the government is transparent and accountable regarding environmental protection?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Joachim Ostertag
Owen Sound