Like many of you, I have been reviewing the Canadian 2016 Budget but focusing on how it might impact the “environmental world.”
I focused my attention on reviewing Chapter 4 – A Clean Growth Economy. Much of the focus seems to be on somewhat esoteric issues, such as the “green economy” and the “low-carbon economy,” which are difficult to quantify, at least currently.
Environmental Focus in Budget
However, within Chapter 4 is “Securing a Cleaner, More Sustainable Environment.” The 2016 budget, “…proposes to provide $3.4 billion over five years, starting in 2016–17, to address climate change and air pollution, protect ecologically sensitive areas and restore public trust in the environmental assessment processes.”
The 2016 Budget, “…proposes to provide $345.3 million over five years… to take action to address air pollution in Canada.” These monies are to be used for research and monitoring, reporting, and enforcing existing regulations. The focus is on improving air quality, which could mean more focus on industrial areas.
The government committed to review the federal environmental assessment process in an effort to, “…restore public trust and support the renewal of the relationship with Canada’s Indigenous peoples.” The government has made a commitment that projects undergoing federal environmental assessments will involve Indigenous peoples; they will be part of the review and monitoring process on major projects. The budget commits $16.5 (over three years) to this effort.
Encouraging all potential stakeholders to participate in, as well as understand (potential or real), environmental impacts of any project, seems to be a reasonable approach.
The Great Lakes look to be getting some attention with $3.1 million allocated in 2016-2017 to focus on some of the recognized problems, such as nutrient pollution. The issue of nutrients is receiving a lot of attention in the Great Lakes area and in the United States in general. The focus will be on reducing phosphorus and quantifying results. This could mean the Leamington area in Ontario, and the greenhouse industry in that area, may be under additional scrutiny.
Infrastructure is set to receive several billion dollars. This would include water and wastewater systems. With the recent sewage dump in Montreal “fresh” in our minds, this seems to be a wise investment.
One of the few commentaries I did see was from HazMat Management. This article pointed out that money was not set aside to address the thousands of abandoned oil wells.
Economic Challenges
As pointed out throughout the 2016 Budget, the Canadian economy has significant challenges (slow growth, pressures on commodities, etc.). These financial challenges put expenditures on environmental issues under increased scrutiny. To that end (cost savings), we continue to find success in optimizing, minimizing, and, in some cases, eliminating soil and groundwater remediation while still protecting the public and the environment (see our peer review process).
We’ll continue to monitor federal and provincial environmental initiatives and provide updates. In the meantime, if you would like more information about our peer reviews or any other environmental service, please contact me (cpare@dragun.com) at 519-979-7300, ext 114.