Ford’s environmental neglect harming Ontarians’ health and wallets

November 24, 2021

QUEEN’S PARK — Mike Schreiner rose in the House to question the Ford government’s environmental neglect, highlighted in the recent Auditor General report:

“On Monday, the Auditor General expressed concern that, despite its name, the Ministry of Environment is not actually protecting the environment.

Hazardous spills across Ontario are causing toxic pollution that threatens workplace safety and people’s health.

Hundreds of workers are injured each year by spills.

And local sources of air pollution cause 6,600 premature deaths, 600 cancer cases and $5 billion economic costs annually.

These are astounding figures.

And not only is the Ministry failing to prevent these toxic spills, but the taxpayers of this province are being stuck with the bill — resulting in tens of millions of dollars of unrecovered costs.

Ontario Greens have a real plan for the environment and climate.

We’ll protect Ontarians’ health and hold polluters accountable, so taxpayers aren’t forced to foot the bill.

We will not let polluters off the hook like Doug Ford.

I’m calling on the Premier to protect people’s health and taxpayer dollars by committing today to do everything possible to prevent these toxic spills and to force polluters to pay for the damage they cause.”

Please find the full recording of Schreiner’s question here.

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