Toronto — Ten months into its mandate, Ontario's new government has launched a series of initiatives to improve the sustainability of the province's urban communities. It has yet, however, to translate any of its key proposals into concrete action. That's the conclusion of a major report rating the Ontario government's performance on urban sustainability issues released today by the Pembina Institute.
The report, Towards Implementation? Building Sustainable Urban Communities in Ontario assesses the government's performance on urban sustainability issues against widely accepted 'smart growth' principles, and the Ontario Liberal Party's own October 2003 election platform commitments.
The Pembina Institute report highlights the government's decisions to adopt the Greenbelt Protection Act, commit a portion of provincial gasoline tax revenues to public transit, and release a growth management plan focused on containing urban sprawl for the Golden Horseshoe region as key achievements during its first months in office.
"All of these things are important steps towards addressing the mistakes of the past — mistakes that have been encouraging and facilitating urban sprawl in southern Ontario," said report author, Dr. Mark Winfield, Director of the Pembina Institute's Toronto-based Environmental Governance Program.
"But none of the initiatives have reached the implementation stage. There is, for example, no formula for the distribution of gasoline tax revenues for transit, which is scheduled to begin in October; the greenbelt legislation is only a temporary freeze on the expansion of urban areas in the Golden Horseshoe, pending the development of final greenbelt plan; and the government's proposals regarding a growth management plan for the region, and the reform of the Ontario Municipal Board, remain just that — proposals. The government needs to move forward on all of these fronts if it is to fulfill the promise of its election platform to the province's urban communities," concluded Dr. Winfield.
Towards Implementation? Building Sustainable Urban Communities in Ontario is the third in the Pembina Institute's publication series on urban sustainability and smart growth issues in Ontario. The Pembina Institute is a national independent, not-for-profit environmental and energy policy research and education organization, with offices in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Drayton Valley, Alberta.
For more information contact:
Mark Winfield, PhD
Pembina Institute Director, Environmental Governance
Tel: 416-978-5656
Cell: 416-434-8130
e-mail: markw@pembina.org
Download the report (under Publications): http://www.pembina.org