By Doug Draper
A few years ago, when Ontario’s environmental commissioner Gord Miller appeared as a keynote speaker at an annual fundraising dinner for the Mel Swart Lake Gibson Conservation Park in the Thorold community of Niagara, Ontario, he proved once again what a fearless voice he was for environmental protection and this province’s people.
Ontario government is pulling plug on Gord Miller's stint as province's top environmental watchdog
During the course of his speech, he made several references to a lack of priority and resources the Liberal government of Premier Dalton McGuinty was devoting to a host of environmental issues from energy conservation to the protection of our land and water resources. At one point, he went so far as to say that the budget for the province’s Ministry of Natural Resources had been cut so much, its field officers could hardly afford fuel for their trucks. All the while Miller (also a former Ontario Ministry of Environment scientist) was saying these things, Jim Bradley, a St. Catharines MPP and a minister in McGuinty’s cabinet, was sitting there at the head table taking all this in.
When I approached Bradley later, he didn’t give an impression that he minded Miller’s criticism so much and even suggested that he had some respect for the man. But that was a few years ago and still some time away from a 2011 provincial election in which McGuinty, by all accounts, plans to run in and win a third term as premier.
With that election looming ever nearer, we learned late this February that McGuinty and his gang have decided to let their contracts with Miller and with an equally fearless public watchdog – Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin – expire at the end of this March. Continue reading
