Earth Day finds Ontario’s environment industry at crossroads

Yesterday, at a meeting of the Economic Club of Canada, I had breakfast with Ontario’s Minister of the Environment, The Hon. John Gerretsen. For those who have not met the Minister, he’s a lawyer and former mayor of Kingston who has probably forgotten more about politics than most people ever learn. The conversation many of us had with him around the table yesterday showed that he seems very committed to his portfolio and personally interested in its many issues.

His speech was a good one, but I was struck by one thing he did not mention. In past years, under past ministers, such a speech might have included just a passing mention of Ontario’s environment firms and focused instead on the voter-friendly parts of the environmental agenda – household recycling, green lightbulbs and the like.

Minister Gerretsen’s speech did not follow this past course. He focused instead on the economic challenge facing Ontario and the role that environment businesses could play in it. He mentioned by name half-a-dozen firms that are involved in environmental consulting, recycling, manufacturing and other areas. He talked at length about the many reform initiatives underway at his ministry, even adding additional – and unscripted – comments about his desire to make the approvals system more efficient.

The fact that Ontario’s Minister of the Environment makes such comments publicly – and frequently – is good news for ONEIA members and our environment sector as a whole. There is willingness across many ministries to hear new ideas from our members that amazes those who have been around this sector far longer than me. Ontario’s environment sector has a unique opportunity now to have a new discussion with the province and outline the changes we all know we need.

A new report that we will release jointly with Deloitte Consulting at Environment Industry Day on April 29 will be a good place to start this discussion. In the past two months, with the support of the Ministries of Environment, Economic Development and Research and Innovation and the Ontario Centres of Excellence, Deloitte has been interviewing and surveying environment companies across Ontario. Their focus has been a simple one: what are the important barriers to growth for companies in this sector and what, if anything, can we do about them.

The results of this research are significant for a number of reasons. For the first time, we will know what Ontario environment firms want from government. We will know the areas that we can focus on in the coming year or two that will bring the greatest benefits to ONEIA members, the overall environment sector and the provincial economy as a whole. And we will know this at a time when government is asking us to talk with them what they can do to help our industry.

We will be distributing copies of the report at Environment Industry Day on the 29th and will publish it on the ONEIA website shortly thereafter. If you haven’t yet registered for EID, please visit one of the links below.

ONEIA Member Registration:
https://www.oneia.ca/oneiaEvent.php?id=29

Non-Member Registration (Evening Reception only): https://www.oneia.ca/oneiaEvent.php?id=30

And I would invite those of you who are not yet ONEIA members to join the conversation about the future of Ontario’s environment businesses. You can visit the blog posting of this message at http://oneia.blogspot.com/ to add your comments. If you are not yet an ONEIA member, you can visit www.oneia.ca/signup.php.

Thanks and I look forward to seeing you at EID!