Short, Sweet and Timely
In keeping with our policy of concise but
timely communication, OAIA Bulletin No. 2 will be brief and to
the point. We note a number of looming deadlines for public
input related to Ontario government policy initiatives with
important environmental implications for the province. We are
not yet informing our members quickly enough about emerging
policy issues such as these. To increase our efficiency and
timeliness in identifying key developments and making members
aware of them, OAIA needs to develop a network of correspondents
who can bring to the attention of the Ontario EA community
unfolding events with important environmental implications. If
you would like to act in this capacity, or just contribute one
specific item to a future edition of the OAIA Bulletin, please
contact Ray Lamoureux.
Planning Commences on Fall/Winter
Series of Events
Your executive has commenced preliminary
planning on a series of short professional development and
consciousness raising events to be held in Toronto, southwestern
Ontario and Ottawa. If you are interested in contributing to the
conceptualization or organization of one of these events, please
contact us.
Oak Ridges Land Use Plan
On August 14, Ontario Municipal Affairs
Minister, Chris Hodgson, released proposals, made by an expert
advisory panel, for an ecologically based land use plan for the
Oak Ridges Moraine. Details of these proposals are contained in
a booklet entitled
Share your Vision of the Oak Ridges Moraine. You may make
written comments the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry by
September 13 or to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and
Housing by September 14. Details may be found at
Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
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OSEM Event on Walkerton Inquiry
On Wednesday, September 19, from
6:00 to 9:00 PM, The Ontario Association of Environmental
Management (OSEM) will present
The
Walkerton Inquiry: Reflections on Troubled Waters. You will
hear about the chief issues, likely findings, and lesser known
details from legal counsel representing the various parties to
the inquiry.
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Class EA for Remedial Flood and
Erosion Control Projects
Betty Hansen is preparing an official OAIA
response to a number of questions related to the stakeholder
review of this class assessment. If you would like to influence
OAIA's input to this process, contact Betty as soon as possible
at ecosystm@echo-on.net. You should get your comments to Betty
by September 15 to give her time to incorporate them into
the official OAIA submission which must be received by the
Ministry of the Environment by September 28 . You may
also wish to submit your comments directly to the Ministry of
Environment by their September 28 deadline. To learn more about
the class EA and to obtain the coordinates of the Ministry
contact person, go to the
Ministry of the Environment.
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Five Year Review of Ontario's
Provincial Policy Statement under the Planning Act
Ontario government is undertaking a review
of its Provincial Policy Statement under the Planning Act. To
learn how to participate in that review, visit
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The actual
Policy Statement can also be viewed there. While you are
there, check out the Ontario government's
Smart Growth Strategy which has a direct bearing on the
review. You may also want to check out
alternative visions of the planning policy for Ontario such
as the one that has been proposed by Jane Jacobs and the
Federation of Ontario Naturalists. The deadline for your five
year review comments is October 12.
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Canadian Environmental Assessment
Agency Launches Seminar Series
As part of its research and development
program, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency is
launching a seminar series on key issues in environmental
assessment. The first seminar, which will be held in Montreal on
October 23, features research conducted on the issue of
Follow-up in Environmental Assessment. Seminars on
Climate Change and Environmental Assessment and on New
Perspectives in Significance and Environmental Assessment
will be held on January 25 and March 21, 2002 in
Toronto and Vancouver, respectively. For details consult the
Agency's website.
