The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) is the province’s environmental watchdog, reviewing and reporting on Ontario’s environmental performance. The current ECO, Dianne Saxe, began her term in December, 2015 and her appointment is focused “on serving the Ontario Legislature, improving the effectiveness of the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 (EBR), a legislative piece that allows Ontarians to participate in environmental-decision making, and catalyzing better environmental, energy and climate outcomes, for and with the people of Ontario”[1].
After 23 years, the EBR is now being updated and you can have a say!
In a statement by Commissioner Saxe, she writes,
“Significant environmental decisions are too important to leave entirely to government. The EBR allows Ontarians to participate in such decisions, and to hold the government accountable for the results.
For 23 years, the EBR has helped citizens achieve better environmental outcomes (see some success stories here), but strengthening the EBR is long overdue. The ECO has called for EBR reform since 2005. In 2010, environmental groups used EBR tools to persuade the province to review the legislation, but nothing really happened until now.
Until Nov. 8, 2016, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) is finally seeking comments on Review of the EBR, (EBR Registry Number:012-8002). If you care about environmental rights, don’t miss this chance to tell the government what you think.”
And do not miss the ECO’s acclaimed report on energy use and conservation entitled Conservation: Let’s get serious. The report reviews Ontario’s energy supply, and how we can conserve to create a more environmentally conscious future.
[1] http://eco.on.ca/about-us/
Header photo provided by the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario