WATER OPPORTUNITIES AND WATER CONSERVATION ACT, 2010 /
LOI DE 2010 SUR LE DÉVELOPPEMENT DES TECHNOLOGIES DE L’EAU ET
LA CONSERVATION DE L’EAU

Mr. Gerretsen moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 72, An Act to enact the Water Opportunities Act, 2010 and to amend other Acts in respect of water conservation and other matters / Projet de loi 72, Loi édictant la Loi de 2010 sur le développement des technologies de l’eau et modifiant d’autres lois en ce qui concerne la conservation de l’eau et d’autres questions.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry?

All those in favour will say “aye.”

All those opposed will say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

Call in the members. This will be a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1520 to 1525.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): All those in favour will rise one at a time and be recorded by the Clerk.

Ayes

Aggelonitis, Sophia
Albanese, Laura
Arthurs, Wayne
Broten, Laurel C.
Brownell, Jim
Cansfield, Donna H.
Caplan, David
Carroll, Aileen
Chiarelli, Bob
Colle, Mike
Crozier, Bruce
Delaney, Bob
Dhillon, Vic
Dickson, Joe
DiNovo, Cheri
Duguid, Brad
Flynn, Kevin Daniel
Gerretsen, John
Hoskins, Eric
Hoy, Pat
Jaczek, Helena
Jeffrey, Linda
Johnson, Rick
Kormos, Peter
Kular, Kuldip
Lalonde, Jean-Marc
Levac, Dave
Mangat, Amrit
Mauro, Bill
McMeekin, Ted
McNeely, Phil
Milloy, John
Naqvi, Yasir
Orazietti, David
Prue, Michael
Pupatello, Sandra
Qaadri, Shafiq
Ramal, Khalil
Rinaldi, Lou
Ruprecht, Tony
Smith, Monique
Sorbara, Greg
Tabuns, Peter
Van Bommel, Maria

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Those opposed?

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): The ayes are 44; the nays are 0.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I declare the motion carried.

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): The minister for a short statement?

Hon. John Gerretsen: During ministerial statements.

Before doing so, I’d like to introduce a number of individuals who are in the east gallery here who are very much interested in this bill and have been very actively involved in giving advice with respect to it.

I’d like to introduce Anastasia Lintner, who is with Ecojustice; Tim Morris, who is with the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation; Carol Maas, who is with the Polis Project; Mark Hinchcliffe, who’s with Hennessy and Hinchcliffe; Chris Holcroft, who is with the Rideau Institute; Derek Stack, who is with Great Lakes United; and Brent Wootton, who is with Fleming College. They’re all here to join us at the introduction of this bill.

I would also like to introduce the ministry folks who have really been very actively involved in putting this bill together, and I think they should be given credit where credit is due. They include John Lieou and Paul Evans, two assistant deputy ministers; Sharon Bailey, who’s the director of water services; Kelly Brown and George Rocoski; as well as two members of my own staff: Anna Head, who is an intern in our office this summer, along with Brenda Lucas, who gives us excellent advice on all issues relating to water.

If passed, this bill would make Ontario the place to come to for new technologies and leading-edge products and services in water treatment and water conservation. As part of our government’s Open Ontario plan, it would lay the foundation for innovation in this fast-growing global sector, bring investments and create good jobs for the people of Ontario.

For too long we have taken our water, particularly in this province, for granted. As pressures on water continue to grow as a result of climate change and population growth, there will be a 40% gap between global supply and demand for water in the next 20 years. We have a clear responsibility, as Ontarians and as legislators in this Legislature, to fully understand what this incredible resource means to us and to be prepared to protect and conserve it for future generations.

Water is a distinct part of our heritage. In fact, the name “Ontario” has its roots in the words of a number of aboriginal languages that describe a “beautiful lake.” We have a vision of Ontario becoming a North American centre of water technology and innovation, helping to provide the solutions so badly needed around the world.

Let me be clear: We want to export our know-how and expertise. We will not allow the bulk export of water.

Our proposed Water Opportunities and Water Conservation Act is intended to deliver three key outcomes:

-to make Ontario a North American leader in the development and sale of technologies for water conservation and treatment. Today I had the opportunity to be at Discovery 10, which is at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. It is truly inspiring to see the over 300 different companies that are involved in the clean tech industry, including many in the clean tech water industry, be represented there and be actively involved in trying to get others interested in the products and services they’re selling. There has been a huge advance that has taken place over the last five to 10 years.

-to encourage sustainable infrastructure in conservation planning, including using innovative technologies to solve water, waste water and stormwater infrastructure challenges.

-to encourage all Ontarians to use water more wisely.

As a key part in delivering these outcomes, the proposed act, if passed, would create the water technology acceleration project-or, as we like to call it, TAP-a corporation that would support research and development as well as the commercialization of new technologies and innovations in Ontario’s water sector.

We are looking at the success of these kinds of partnerships in other leading jurisdictions, such as in Germany, Singapore and Israel, and we are serious about making Ontario a strong and competitive player in a global sector currently valued at around $400 billion per year and soon to be $1 trillion per year.

The proposed Water Opportunities Act would involve creating partnerships with universities, colleges, municipalities, industry and entrepreneurs, along with others. We are working together with the Ministries of Research and Innovation, Energy and Infrastructure, Economic Development and Trade, Natural Resources, and Municipal Affairs and Housing to make this happen.

Just as importantly, we are focusing on transforming Ontario from being a water waster to a water conserver. We all know that water efficiency is the most cost-effective way to generate additional water and waste water treatment capacity. Investing in water conservation and innovative technology can avoid or defer significant infrastructure costs. Ontario examples clearly demonstrate that the cost of conservation programs by municipalities may be as little as one quarter of the cost of new infrastructure.

In Ontario, we use an average of 260 litres of water per person per day, and we know we can do much better than that at conserving. The proposed act aims to encourage efforts that would significantly reduce Ontario’s residential water use. As a matter of fact, in Germany and the United Kingdom, for example, average water use is around 150 litres per day, almost half of what we use here in Ontario.

If passed, this act would also allow the government to bring in water efficiency standards for consumer products such as faucets, shower heads and rain sensors. It would also allow us to require standardized information about water use on water bills, so that Ontarians know more about their water use than they currently do, and would enable government facilities to demonstrate leadership through water conservation planning.

We intend to consult widely on the proposed legislation, as we already have. My parliamentary assistant, Helena Jaczek, the member from Oak Ridges-Markham, and I have met with many individuals, with companies large and small, with many academics and with many municipal leaders in the water business to talk about what could be in an act like this. We’ve already done a lot of consultation, but we have to do a lot more on the act itself. We intend to consult widely on the proposed legislation as it moves forward and, if passed, as we develop the new regulations under it.

Our government’s bold, progressive and visionary approach will help provide solutions to one of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges and put Ontario’s expertise, which is already available around the world, on the map even more.

It’s the right approach. It is the right thing to do for our environment, and it’s the right thing to do to make Ontario open for business in the new, clean economy. I urge all of my colleagues to join together in supporting this bill.

I got a copy of the bill. My staffer was locked out of the announcement this morning, although I did read about this in the Saturday Star. Robert Benzie quotes a Liberal insider: “This will help people to save money on their water bills,” said the senior high-ranking insider.

That could be worrisome. I’m concerned that people won’t be able to afford this McGuinty water bill if they’re required to, because of pricing, use less water if there is a price hike, a fee hike or a tax hike, so we’ll see on that one. This could be a warning, obviously, for residential users, industrial users, farmers with water-taking permits and farmers dependent on irrigation-based agriculture. I think of carrots, potatoes, obviously, tobacco.

The cost: What will McGuinty’s water bill add up to? We know that former health minister Caplan’s water and sewer private member’s bill would add something like an additional $600 a year on the bill. We recognize and we understand that clean water is essential to the health and success of a thriving and prosperous Ontario, but there’s little doubt that as the international community puts a greater emphasis on clean water, they, too, will understand the significance of the expertise that resides in this great province, the expertise that resides in China, for example, and elsewhere.

For these reasons our former government, for decades, really, committed to enacting water legislation, regulation, the recommendations of O’Connor-the commitment to the centre of excellence in Walkerton. We put forward the Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act some eight years before this bill.

The proof is in the pudding. We’ll just see how much this will cost people and how it works out.

Unfortunately-and I know the Minister of the Environment will not be surprised-I am not going to hold my breath for those opportunities to be realized here in Ontario. I have to say that I was present when the Premier made his announcement of his climate change targets and action plan a number of years ago. I was present in December when both the Minister of the Environment and the Environmental Commissioner reported that Ontario would not meet even those weak targets. I was present when the budget was presented. I understand that the funding for public transit has been cut. So even in the weak targets within a plan that was failing, further reductions have been put forward.

I was around for the greater Golden Horseshoe growth strategy-tremendous optimism on the part of the environmental community when that came forward. By the time the final product came before us, what we had was something that the Neptis Foundation and the Pembina Institute said would give little better than business as usual.

I have to say that I was part of the parliamentary committee that went around and listened to presentations on the Green Energy Act and heard credible testimony that the energy efficiency standards in the building code are not enforced in this province. I raised the issue with the then Minister of Energy, who said that this was a matter for another ministry.

If we’re not enforcing the efficiency codes that we have now for energy, what leads one to believe that they will be enforced for water in the way that they have to be enforced? I say this to the environmental movement: They have to rally now; they have to pull together their forces; they have to push to ensure that this bill, which will most likely pass, actually has regulations that go with it that will be of consequence.

I do not expect this government to actually take on the fights that are going to be necessary to actually make a difference. I hope that this bill will at least provide the framework for a future government with an environmental commitment to make a difference.