Environment Industry Day 2010 at Queen's Park
ONEIA held its tenth annual
Environment Industry Day at Queen's Park on May 18, 2010, under the able
chairpersonship of Tom Heintzman of Bullfrog Power. The day began with a
briefing breakfast for members who were selected to join teams to meet with MPPs
and cabinet ministers. These meetings then took place throughout the day,
allowing Ontario's environment companies to raise our industry's concerns with
the province's key political figures. 
The Association was also pleased to
host the Deputy Minister of the Environment, Gail Beggs, at a luncheon at the
nearby Sutton Place Hotel sponsored by Newalta. Ms. Beggs gave the 100+
attendees an overview of her ministry's ongoing process to modernize
environmental approvals and took several questions from the audience.
The afternoon saw the Association's
joint industry-government roundtables produce productive discussions on such
topics as Brownfields regulation, climate change, water and wastewater
approvals and air permitting. These roundtables allow senior government
policy-makers to get "real time" feedback from those most affected by
their policies, while industry participants can receive vital information and
clarify questions they have about existing and future policies.
The evening reception at the dining
room at Queen's Park, sponsored by Waste Management, was widely viewed as the
"best yet." Environment Minister the Hon. John Gerretsen was
joined by several of his cabinet colleagues, Speaker of the House Steve Peters
and a range of government and opposition MPPs. All attendees checked out
a display of wastewater technology offered by Filter Innovations and had time
to network and exchange ideas to close out the day.
