I am expressing my concern…

I am expressing my concern with, and opposition to, portions of the legislation tabled as Bill 66. While described as the 'Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act', there are potentially dire threats to the health of Ontario citizens if Bill 66 is enacted as written.

The tragedy that occurred in Walkerton in May of 2000 taught Ontarians many a harsh lesson regarding the need for protection of sources of drinking water across the province. In response to the events in Walkerton, the report from the judicial inquiry led by Justice O'Connor pointed out that, "It is reasonable for all those in Ontario to expect that the government will do all it reasonably can to support a safe drinking water system."

Bill 66 contains actions that are intended to allow businesses to create jobs by eliminating 'red tape and burdensome regulations.' This sounds much like that of the deregulation approach taken by the government leading up to, and according to Justice O'Connor, contributing to, the events in Walkerton.

The 2006 Clean Water Act was intended to follow directly from Justice O'Connor's Report and represent Ontario's best efforts to protect sources of clean drinking water across the province. To allow for section 39 of the Act to be overridden when considering some forms of proposed new development is ill advised and irresponsible.

Section 39 of the CW Act currently requires all land use planning decisions to conform to local source protection plans developed to protect community sources of drinking water. Any circumvention or requirements specified in these plans risks sacrificing public safety in the name of job creation and represents a course of action that would be misguided in the extreme.

I am urging the government to re-think Bill 66 and eliminate the portions of this piece of proposed legislation in Section 10 that could so negatively impact the health and well-being of Ontario citizens.