That’s the assessment from Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller, who singled out the MNR as a “chronic offender” for repeatedly refusing to post proposals and decisions on the web, as required by Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights, legislation passed in 1993.
“The Ministries are hiding things,” Miller told reporters. “They don’t want public scrutiny.”
Notices posted on the Ontario Environmental Registry are open to public comment for 60 days. Any formal comment received must be taken into account when a final decision is made.
Miller, whose oversight position was created to monitor government compliance with the Environmental Bill of Rights, said the repeated violations are “deliberate and documented.”
“If you don’t post a decision, how does anyone know it’s been made?” he asked.
Natural Resources wasn’t the only offender, Miller said. The Ministries of Northern Development and Mines and Municipal Affairs and Housing have denied every application for review or investigation since the process was brought in 18 years ago.
The controversial Feed-in Tariff program, which allows people to receive inflated prices for selling renewable energy into the Ontario grid, came up for review this year. But the Ministry of Energy refused to accept public comment, Miller said.
“It astounds me to report on the degree of disregard and contempt that is shown,” Miller said.
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Marco Chown Oved
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