Environmental Commissioner of Ontario

ECO Report on Biodiversity

February 6, 2012

in Biodiversity,FRED SEES

In January 2012, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario released a special report to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the public, addressing Ontario’s role in managing and regulating biodiversity for present and future generations (the “Special Report”).

The Special Report follows up on an international meeting in Japan for the Convention of Biological Diversity, where the international community agreed to 20 biodiversity conservation targets aimed for 2020 (the “Aichi Targets”). The purpose of the Special Report is in part to begin a dialogue on how the Aichi Targets can be tailored for use by provincial ministries. (p.7)

The Special Report calls on the Government of Ontario to develop a biodiversity strategy that addresses the Aichi Targets. A good portion of the Special Report provides recommendations on the role that various provincial ministries can play in order to address biodiversity in Ontario, with the Ministry of Natural Resource, suggested as lead.

 

Yadira is an associate in Fogler Rubinoff’s Environmental law department. She joined the firm as a summer student in 2009, and articled with the firm in 2010-2011. Her practice is focused on advice and litigation relating to environmental approvals, including approvals regarding renewable energy, resource extraction and land use. She can be contacted at yflores@foglers.com

Tagged as: Aichi Targets, biodiversity, ECO, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario

Leave us a note

Environmental Commissioner of Ontario makes 2010-2011 recommendations

November 30, 2011

in FRED SEES,Human Health,Land Use Planning,OIl and Gas,Pits & Quarries,Places to Grow

Gord Miller released his Annual Report entitled Engaging Solutions (link to pdf) yesterday. His recommendations included:

1. The MNR develop commercial fisheries policies, including an allocation policy, to increase transparency on how it manages Ontario’s commercial fisheries.

2. The MNR ensure that government response statements clearly articulate the actions that the Ontario government will and will not take to protect and recover species at risk.

3. The MNR ban both the hunting and trapping (except by First Nations and Aboriginal peoples) of species at risk in all protected areas.

4. The MNR develop a coarse-scale, overarching natural heritage system for southern Ontario.

5. The MOE develop Great Lakes targets and ensure that Great Lakes policies are included in the source protection planning process.

6. The MOE update the Provincial Water Quality Objective for Total Phosphorus to reflect individual lake sensitivity and watershed-level cumulative effects.

7. The MOE require stormwater management facility owners or operators to monitor and maintain all stormwater management infrastructure in Ontario.

8. The MNR, in association with Conservation Ontario, review and update floodplain maps in Ontario in order to adapt them to impacts from climate change.

9. The MOE review and revise its inspection planning program and its Compliance Policy: Applying Abatement and Enforcement Tools (Policy F-2) to include an effective compliance and enforcement strategy specific to the registration process.

10. The MNR and MOE review and publicly report on the sufficiency of the regulatory framework to protect water resources and the natural environment from shale gas extraction.

11. The ECO recommends that MMAH amend the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan to ensure that Moraine groundwater is protected from development outside of the Moraine.

12. The ECO recommends that MOE undertake a review and update of the province’s outdated MISA program.

Tagged as: Compliance, Environmental Bill of Rights, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, fisheries, floodplains, Great Lakes, Natural Heritage, Species at Risk, stormwater

Leave us a note