McGuinty government takes half step towards environmental education on eve of Environmental Commissioner’s report

For immediate release: October 31st, 2005

(Toronto) On the eve of the Environmental Commissioner’s annual report, Queen’s Park finally announced that it would bring the Ministry of Education (MoE) under the purview of the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR). This was thought to be a victory for Dr. Tom Puk of Lakehead University who submitted the application for the MoE’s inclusion and for members of the Ontario Provincial Round Table Concerning the EcoSphere, Curriculum and Life, Earthroots, and for parents, students and school boards across the province, such as the Toronto District School Board.

However, while the Ministry of Education will now be under the EBR’s purview, it will be required only to draft a Statement of Environmental Values (SEV) like any other prescribed ministry, but will not be subject to what is called the "notice and comment" process - also known as the Environmental Registry. This is one of the main features of the EBR. The Registry is the EBR tool designed for increasing public participation in environmental decision-making and improving accountability. For some unknown reason, the government has created a unique exception for the Ministry of Education to exempt it from the public reporting requirement.

"The best way to plant the seeds of responsible citizenship, is to educate our students about the importance of being stewards of our environment", said Josh Matlow, Earthroots’ Campaign Director and a Toronto District School Board Trustee, "Ontarians want clean air, safe drinking water, waste reduction and reliable sources of clean energy. Let us educate the next generation now so that we can ensure a healthy future for them."

The Environmental Registry is a website where other prescribed ministries must post proposals for "environmentally significant decisions" - new Acts, regulations, policies or instruments - for a minimum of 30 days. The Act requires that the Minister of a prescribed Ministry must consider public comments posted, explain what the comments were, and indicate how she or he has taken the comments made on Registry proposals into account. The decision notice posted on the Registry must indicate how many comments were made.

"The Ministry of Education is responsible for developing educational policies that can directly affect the ecological literacy of future citizens and is thus responsible for the future health and sustainability of our province", said Elise Houghton of Environmental Education Ontario (EEON) one of the member groups of the Provincial Round Table.

For the Ministry of Education – to be alone among prescribed Ministries - the purpose of public accountability of the EBR will not be fulfilled.

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For more information, please contact:

Josh Matlow, Earthroots’ Campaign Director and Toronto District School Board Trustee (416) 397-3094 or (416) 809-5674 cell.

Elise Houghton, EEON (416) 960-5495

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