Ministry mentions: The…

Ministry mentions:

The government is committed to:
• service excellence
• accountability
• transparency

In my opinion, to reach this goal, the Ontario's Environmental Compliance Policy draft needs more contents.

Our community has a long term issue, an asphalt plant set here by breaking all relevant laws, and community has never stopped complaining it affects neighbours.

Ministry hands out orders to this plant and brings this plant to court to get environmental penalties, but still this asphalt plant operation always causes the adverse effects which Environmental Protection Act prohibits, since this plant does not have separation distance from other land uses, it is impossible for this asphalt plant to comply with EPA, i.e. not cause any adverse effect to surrounding people and properties. During so many years we all know this fact, orders and environmental penalties cannot resolve the problem. How the Ontario's Environmental Compliance Policy works in such case?

Also this asphalt plant breaks all relevant laws since the beginning, why it can get chance to set and operate, also lasts so many years, how accountability works in this case?

And this asphalt plant set here in late 1999, in 2003 Ministry put a monitor here, the data proved this asphalt plant emission too much pollutants into air, and it is the main air pollution source in this area. The asphalt plant stopped in end of 2004, but very strange after it changed the owner, it restarted in early 2005 without monitor working here. Public members did not know the info of the monitor data, also did not know what Ministry did. We found the fact in 2017 through Freedom Information, our question is why until now this never complied with EPA asphalt plant still is allowed to operate? How transparency works in this case?

The thing makes people very angry and losing confidence on government is we always get bad service, we call and report, nobody comes to site, nobody returns call, Ministry does nothing, we continue suffering in the pollution. So how to ensure Ministry service excellence? I do not think this Ontario's Environmental Compliance Policy clearly tells us.

Ministry needs much more contents added into this policy to reach the goal.