Contact your MPP about the Omnibus Bill 55

Massive call-in needed to NDP and PCs to urge rejection of amendments to environmental legislation
AWARE Simcoe is passing on two alerts about the Liberal government’s Omnibus Bill 55 which amends a number of environmental bills while circumventing normal posting under the Environmental Bill of Rights.

The first is from NoMegaQuarry.ca:
On March 27, 2012 the Government of Ontario presented its proposed budget. The Minister of Finance, Dwight Duncan, tabled for the first reading in the legislature Bill 55 “Strong Action for Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2012”. However, Bill 55 is an omnibus bill amending 69 different statutes including:
– Endangered Species Act
– Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act
– Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act
– Public Lands Act
– Crown Forest Sustainability Act
– Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act.
These laws are prescribed under the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 (EBR) and any proposed changes should be posted on the EBR with a 30-day public review and comment period.
Omnibus Bill-55 is violating the public’s right to comment.
Contact your MPP and ask him/her to make a stand to eliminate all references to amendments to Acts administered under the Environmental Bill of Rights from Bill 55, and failing that turn down Bill 55 in its entirety. We need stronger, not weaker, Environmental legislation to protect ourselves and future generations.
Donna Baylis
More Info: 
http://www.eco.on.ca/blog/2012/04/02/the-omni-budget-surprise/

The Second is from the Ontario Rivers Alliance
Subject: FW: OMNIBUS BILL-55 – AN EROSION OF OUR ENVIRONMENTAL AND SPECIES AT RISK PROTECTION – PLEASE ACT NOW
Hello everyone!   ORA is requesting your action on this message – today if possible.  Please also circulate this message to those who you think would be interested!
I believe it is widely unknown to the public that the 2012 Omnibus Bill-55 also contains amendments to 69 Acts, of which several are administered under the Environmental Bill of Rights.  As Gord Miller, Environmental Commissioner for Ontario says at http://www.eco.on.ca/blog/?s=bill+55 , “This budget bill is effectively the mother-of-all pieces of omnibus legislation.  Bill 55 amends 69 different statutes in its schedules.  For example, many environmentally significant laws that are administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources are proposed to be amended.  These laws include the Endangered Species Act, the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, the Public Lands Act, the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, and the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act.  Laws such as these are prescribed under the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993 (EBR).  Normally, when the government proposes to amend legislation that is prescribed under the EBR, it would post a proposal notice on the Environmental Registry and solicit public comments for a minimum of 30 days.  The government then considers the public comments and makes a decision.  These steps help make for a transparent and accountable process.” 
This government is taking away its citizens’ right to comment on these numerous Acts administered under the EBR – and this is a violation of our Environmental Bill of Rights!
A recurring theme throughout many of the Act amendments is “The Minister is permitted to delegate any or all of his or her duties and powers under this Act to any other person.”   “The Minister may impose any conditions that the Minister deems appropriate on the exercise of the powers by the delegate.  Crown not liable for delegate’s acts.”
It certainly has the strong odour of privatization of MNR – could this all be about giving developers the power of self-regulation?  I would guess that this Liberal government is planning a massive gutting of MNR staff and responsibilities – this does not bode well for our environment and natural resources’ oversight and protection.  There are so many Acts involved in this Bill, and it is difficult to know all the ramifications of these changes without individual and joint analysis, or even to guess precisely what they have in mind.  But we already know that the proponent led process is not working – this government has effectively placed the fox in charge of the chicken coop, and it appears like they are ready to go to the next level with this.
Including all these amendments to several Acts administered under the Environmental Bill of Rights, circumvents the rights of the public to comment and have input into these important environmental  matters.   I talked to France Gelinas and Peter Tabuns, NDP, and there have been very few comments or requests coming from the environmental community.  NDP has the swing vote on this, so we need to have a massive call-in to NDP and the PC party requesting they reject the amendments to these 69 Acts – and ultimately the entire Bill if this cannot be negotiated.
Please consider calling the NDP and PC parties to request they reject the Amendments to the 69 Acts included in with the Omnibus Budget Bill:
NDP website at http://www.ondpcaucus.com/yoursay/index.php#form or call 1-855-668-2348
PC website at http://www.ontariopc.com/contact-us/ or call Toll-free: 1-800-903-6453
ORA is requesting that the NDP and PCs make a stand to:
1.      Eliminate all references to Amendments of Acts from Bill 55; and failing that
2.      Eliminate all Amendments to Acts administered under our Environmental Bill of Rights; and failing that
3.      Turn down Bill 55 in its entirety.
“Strong Measures Act” is a very appropriate name for this Budget Bill – although, perhaps “Strong Arm Act” would be even more appropriate!  
It is very interesting that their FIT Program and Green Energy plan marches forward unscathed, and yet the agency responsible for overseeing and regulating our application and approvals process, and for safeguarding our endangered species and natural resources appears to be taking a severe hair cut?
Linda Heron
Chair, Ontario Rivers Alliance
OntarioRiversAlliance.ca
 “A World of Healthy River Ecosystems”