The Ford government is once again taking an axe to environmental laws under the guise of cutting red tape. Their massive 92-page omnibus bill undermines protections for our air, land and water.

“The Premier is making life easier for polluters, relaxing the rules for the clean-up of toxic spills, and making it easier for aggregate operators to dig below the water table, threatening our precious drinking water,” said Schreiner.

Bill 132 eliminates daily penalties for companies who fail to clean up their spills and reduces the total fines they must pay for their environmental offences.

“When you’re trying to prevent toxic substances from leaking into our waterways, time is of the essence. We need these strong penalties to compel companies to clean up a spill as quickly as possible,” said Schreiner.

The bill also grants aggregates companies greater flexibility to dig below the water table even when it goes contrary to sound science.

“Once again, the government is taking authority away from scientists and putting it in the hands of politicians, putting ideology over evidence and private interests over safe water,” he said.

“Ontario already has some of the weakest aggregate rules in North America and these changes will only make the threats to our water supply worse,” said Schreiner.

Bill 132 adds to the laundry list of environmental safeguards weakened or eliminated, including the Toxics Reduction Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Green Energy Act, and the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-Carbon Economy Act.

“Protecting safe drinking water is not red tape. Holding polluters accountable is not red tape.”

“So I am urging the government to remove sections of Bill 132 that threaten the people and places we love,” said Schreiner

source: media release