CIELAP’s Election Questions for your Provincial Candidate

Why don’t you ask the candidates from the various political parties what they would do, if elected, to address the following issues:

1. Sustainability: Economic, social and environmental concerns need to be addressed in an integrated way, if Ontario is going to move on to a more sustainable path.

Question - If you are elected, how will you help Ontario act in a way that is more sustainable? What would be your top three sustainability priorities?

2. Hazardous and Liquid Industrial Waste: Hazardous and liquid industrial wastes can include by-products from industrial processes such as solvents, contaminated sludges, acids and oils. Many household products, car batteries and biomedical or pathological wastes are also considered hazardous. We have not significantly reduced the amount of these wastes in Ontario over the past five years.

Question - What would you do to encourage Ontario’s citizens and industries to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated, used and disposed of in the Province?

3. New Substances Detected in Water: Many substances contained in pharmaceuticals and personal care products (such as cosmetics, tile cleaners, insect repellents, shampoos, and laundry detergents) are suspected to be endocrine disrupting substances and there is some evidence that they are linked to the feminization of fish and other water species. These substances make their way into our groundwater and even drinking water after unused medications, cleansers, and personal care products like shampoos are put down our drains. It will be difficult for us to stop using medicines, soap and shampoo. But we can use organic products that are less likely to be harmful to our water sources. We also need to safely dispose of unused medicines and personal care products in a responsible way. This is an emerging issue and is likely to become more troublesome as our population ages.

Question - What would you do to address this emerging issue of pharmaceuticals and personal care products getting into our water?

4. Innovation: New innovative technologies such as biofuels, genetically engineered fish and trees, plant molecular farming and nanotechnology are being introduced into Ontario with claims that these technologies will fuel the economy in the 21st century and provide jobs. There are many unknowns about these technologies, however. For example, what are the long term effects of any of these technologies on our health or on the environment? The Ontario government is currently spending funds on research for these new technologies in Ontario. But very little is spent on education or on research into the potential health and environmental impacts.

Question - What would you do to ensure that, as these technologies are promoted, there are checks and balances in place to make sure that we are not just creating another health or environmental problem for our grandchildren to deal with in the future?