Media Release

(Toronto). Today at Queen’s Park, Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner released a sobering appraisal of the province’s handling of a wide variety of environmental policy issues.  In his Report, Ontario’s non-partisan environmental watchdog, Gord Miller, makes several critical recommendations regarding the provincial government’s handling of declining water levels, forestry practices, biodiversity and environmental assessments. 

The Commissioner’s Report effectively negates the myth that our province has a limitless supply of fresh water. Echoing concerns articulated by Earthroots in August, the Commissioner called for the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) to “revise its Permit to Take Water (PTTW) regulation…to include mandatory water use reduction rules consistent with the Ontario Low Water Response plan.” Pushing further, the ECO called for the expansion of the plan to include “an explicit rationale for allocating water in extreme drought conditions” and that “PTTWs should only be issued in accordance with…the capacity of each watershed to support water takings.” 

Media Release

The environmental group Earthroots is calling on the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) to delay the September 3^rd public release of Temagami’s Draft Forest Management Plan. The Draft Plan outlines logging, tending, and renewal operations in Temagami between 2009 and 2019. Temagami is world renowned for its pristine ancient pine forests, canoe routes and aboriginal scared sites; it contains some of the largest stands of old-growth red and white pine remaining in the world.

TORONTO – An investigative report was released today highlighting the toll golf courses are taking on Ontario’s water resources. A joint report by Earthroots and Ecojustice (formerly Sierra Legal Defence Fund), Ontario’s Water Hazard reveals that golf courses located within environmentally sensitive watersheds are taking billions of litres of water each year and that there are serious inadequacies in how the Ontario government manages water taking permits.

“There are serious problems with how the province allocates water taking permits,” said Hugh Wilkins, staff lawyer with Ecojustice. “Our investigation has revealed that inadequate reporting methods and regulatory lapses have allowed some courses to continue operating with an expired water taking permit for as long as 17 years.”

The report specifically investigated provincial Permits to Take Water given to nine golf courses in the Aurora and Newmarket area, north of Toronto on the Oak Ridges Moraine. The analysis presents an unsettling picture of how much of the province’s water resources are being allocated for the use of golf courses.

“Ontarians would be shocked to learn that these 9 golf courses alone have been allocated more than 3 billion litres of water each year,” said Josh Garfinkel, campaigner for Earthroots.  “This is enough to supply all annual water needs for a community of nearly 25,000 people.”

(Toronto). In his 2006/7 Annual Report, released today, Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner warns that the province’s approach to development without adequate planning could do irreparable damage to the province’s environment. Earthroots applauds Commissioner Miller’s frank recommendations. In particular, he highlighted the destruction of greenspaces in Southern Ontario as a result of industrial and suburban sprawl. He also noted that inadequate monitoring of industrial development, such as forestry, mining, and hydro, in the far north poses serious threats to the Boreal Forest.

(Sudbury). The Minister of Natural Resources has recently admitted that the largest old-growth red pine forest in Canada, and possibly even the world, will be opened to logging in the near future. In response to a letter by a concerned citizen, Minister Ramsay has stated that the forest reserve designation for Wolf Lake will be removed and that “the new land use designation would likely permit forest access, harvest and renewal.”

(Toronto). The Ontario Forest Industries Association (OFIA) has revealed its true colours in its recent attempts to sabotage the government’s landmark new Endangered Species Act (ESA). The new legislation, which has been hailed by environmental groups as some of the best in the country, will use a science-based approach to update the list of species at risk and make specific provisions for their protection. Yet the OFIA, which represents forest companies operating in Ontario, is actively trying to derail the legislation in order to minimize restrictions on destructive forest operations.

Media Release

For immediate release: Thursday, April 6th, 2006

(Toronto) Queen's Park has quietly approved the "Big Pipe" sewer to be built along 19th Avenue in Richmond Hill, supporting York Region's preferred route that will run through protected areas of the Oak Ridges Moraine and the recently protected Greenbelt.

(Toronto) On February 24th, 2005 the McGuinty government stated that the Greenbelt would “protect greenspace and contain urban sprawl in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.” One year after the McGuinty government’s plan to create a 1.8 million acre  band of natural spaces and agricultural lands (including the previously protected Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine) was enacted, has the Greenbelt curbed sprawl or encouraged more leapfrog development onto our region’s greenspace?

Canoeists challenge status quo at public forum