MPP Jim McDonell says Great Lakes Bill is Bad Public Policy

Queens Park – Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry MPP Jim McDonell says while protecting the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin is our priority, the government’s proposed Bill 66 is a flawed piece of legislation that will accomplish little and just create another massive government bureaucracy.

“Our Caucus raised numerous concerns that we wanted addressed in order to ensure the bill gets the balance right and reflects the concerns of municipalities, property owners and other stakeholders. We wanted to work with the government to pass the best bill possible to protect these invaluable resources,” said McDonell.

“The government is more interested in playing politics with this critical issue by ramming bad legislation through the House, rejecting 30 out of 31 meaningful PC Caucus amendments and trying to paint the Opposition as being against the environment. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We are simply against bad public policy that delivers no meaningful or measurable results. Bill 66 is just a photo-op Bill,” McDonell said.

“We wanted the opportunity to have province wide hearings on this legislation to give all Ontarians the chance to have their voices heard I’m disappointed the government has once again opted against working with stakeholders and the public. This is no way to create sustainable and meaningful legislation.” said McDonell.