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Laurie Questions the Lack of a New Wetlands Policy

Ms Blakeman:

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Alberta Water Council’s recommendations for a new wetlands policy have been on the minister’s desk since September ’08, and for over a year the minister has promised that the policy will be out shortly. Well, news flash: shortly does not mean more than 14 months later. As we continue to wait for the minister to actually do something, wetlands continue to be destroyed.

My questions are to the Minister of Environment. When will the minister finally replace the inadequate, 17-year-old interim policy and start protecting Alberta’s wetlands?

Mr. Renner

Well, Mr. Speaker, the member is accurate on one count, and that is that we do have an interim policy that has been in place, believe it or not, since 1992. So it is time that we develop a policy that applies to all of Alberta because that interim policy only applies in the white zone, only in the cultivated areas of the province.

Everyone knows that there is increasing pressure now coming into the green zone, the rest of the province. It’s a very complex, very complicated process. I can assure the member that we are spending an inordinate amount of time ensuring that we get it right before we come forward.

Ms Blakeman:

Back to the same minister. Seventeen years. Given that Alberta has lost another 580 square kilometres of wetlands over the past year while the minister has hemmed and hawed over those recommendations, will the minister commit to replacing those wetlands that have now been lost and adopting the Alberta Liberals’ no net-loss policy?

Mr. Renner:

Mr. Speaker, I just wish it was so simple, and I wish that that would be something that this government could absolutely commit to. The fact of the matter is that there are wetlands that have tremendous environmental, ecological value, and there are other wetlands that, perhaps, don’t have that degree of importance. It’s ludicrous to have a policy that applies equally on an acre-for-acre basis across all forms and all classes of wetlands. I think that that is the crux of the issue, and that is where we’re spending so much time, to ensure that we have a policy that recognizes that there are very valuable wetlands, that maybe no net loss is inappropriate because it doesn’t go far enough.Ms Blakeman:

Dither, dither, dither, and we lose wetlands every time you dither. The Alberta Water Council does great, great work, but if the minister never acts on their recommendations, what value are Albertans getting for their $1.7 million investment in the council?

Mr. Renner:

Mr. Speaker, the work that the Water Council does is invaluable in helping the government to formulate policy. But the fact of the matter is – and it’s something that the opposition members fail to realize – that the government is the policy-setting body, and ultimately this Legislature will deal with any changes in legislation that are required to develop that policy. That is the truth of the matter. It is a complex issue. Like everything else in the environment it’s a balancing act: how do we maintain the balance between protecting the environment and ensuring that we continue to have economic growth at the same time?