How Quebec is facing environmental issues

Like most governments, Quebec has been facing a budget deficit problem for several years.

Consequently, it hesitates to give real money to its Environment Department, even if pressure groups and the media have made environment the number one issue of our times.

Quebec officials will argue that the environment portfolio has seen its budget go from $190 million in 1985 to over $400 million today.

It is hard to know however, exactly what additional resources were thrown in, because a lot of what goes on in the Environment Department is in fact the coordination of activities that are carried on by other bodies such as municipalities.

It is therefore likely that the department is channeling money that for the most part would have been spent by other departments if there were no Environment Department.

Whatever the case, one thing we can say for sure is that the Quebec government knew very well that this is one issue that wouldn’t go away anytime soon.

It absolutely had to be dealt with, if not with money, then with something else.

In that context, it was truly a Godsend that in 1987 the United Nations, through its World Commission on Environment and Development (known as the Brundtland Commission after its chairman, Gro Harlem Brundtland) released its report called Our Common Future.

The report promoted a concept known as sustainable development, most often defined as ensuring our use of resources and the environment today does not damage the prospect of their being used by future generations. Quebec heartily endorsed the concept because on the one hand it didn’t mean a huge government investment and on the other hand it represented a realistic approach.

In a nutshell, it calls for continued economic development while having all the actors integrate the environmental factors in their activities.

This endorsement of the concept led the Quebec government to set up a Round Table on the Environment and the Economy in 1988.

Originally this group was composed of 11 members whose task was to draft an action plan which would be Quebec’s practical response to the Brundtland Report.

Some excellent work was accomplished in the early stages of the mandate, but not necessarily as fast as everyone would have liked.

The delays were caused by the departure of the Minister who set up the Round Table and then were compounded by the holding of a general election in 1989.

The shuffle which followed that election meant that the Environment Department in a period of 10 or 11 months had three different ministers.

After this initial slow start, the Round Table really got off the ground late last year when the government not only decided that things should go full speed ahead but also decided the group should be expanded from 11 to 26 members and that its mandate would consist of advising the Premier on environmental issues as well as to develop the action plan.

The membership is made up of six cabinet ministers, representatives of the major labor federations, representatives of conservation groups, and of course people from agriculture, native groups, as well as big and small businesses. A few academics were also sneaked in.

A number of technical committees were set up with representatives of the groups who have seats at the Round Table and they are currently working on very specific proposals which will surface in the coming months.

Needless to say, the debates are rather lively since it is not an easy task to get consensus on what an action plan should consist of.

But, people are working hard and the climate is positive, so I think it will all lead to something Quebecers will be happy with.

The description I have given of Quebec’s handling of environmental concerns is quite similar to what is going on in other regions of Canada.

That is because Canada’s response to the Brundtland Commission’s findings was to establish a National Task Force to point the way toward the creation of federal and provincial sustainable development strategies.

And this particular Task Force was successful in getting, at the latest count, nine provinces, the two territories, and the federal government to set up Round Tables on the Environment and the Economy.

I guess you could say the Brundtland approach must be quite lucid if so many governments in Canada jumped on the bandwagon.

I personally think it is and in this time of national crisis, I find it so refreshing to see there really are some things that unite us. Maybe Mrs. Brundtland could be called upon to give us some ideas in areas other than environment.

I think we could use them.

Michel Decary is the vice-president for Quebec, of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.