B.C. Liberal Cuts, Secrecy Could Be Putting Prince George Children in Danger
VICTORIA— Deep cuts to environmental monitoring have left families in Prince George wondering whether the air their children breathe is safe, says New Democrat environment critic Rob Fleming .
Rob Fleming
“The B.C. Liberal government received test results from Fort George Park, a playground next to a daycare and a children’s museum, showing very high levels of formaldehyde in the air, but they did nothing to inform the people of Prince George,” said Fleming. “Worse, no follow-up tests were done in the subsequent 18 months, despite the fact that formaldehyde levels were almost 20 times the provincial maximum.”
Re-testing in Prince George would cost between $6,000 and $12,000, but local ministry officials say they don’t have the funds necessary to do them.
“If the government refuses to test the air quality, how can communities be assured that their air is safe?” said Fleming. “Families in Prince George have every right to ask Shirley Bond and Pat Bell what the impact is for their community of the B.C. Liberals’ deep cuts to environmental monitoring.”
The B.C. Liberals have cut funding for environmental monitoring by 34 per cent since 2008, leaving the environment ministry scrambling to perform even basic tests and potentially putting the health of communities at risk.
“The B.C. Liberal government is playing politics with people’s health,” said Fleming. “An air quality advisory should have been issued when these results came back, and the government should have promptly double-checked the tests. What else is the B.C. Liberal government hiding from communities?”
Fleming says the fact that the environment minister gutted almost every department in the ministry while boosting the minister’s personal office budget shows that the B.C. Liberal government has the wrong priorities.
“Year after year Minister Penner budgets more for photo-ops and less for protecting children and communities from environmental toxins,” said Fleming. “The B.C. Liberals can’t be trusted to put families first.”
Carole James and the New Democrats are advocating for positive environmental solutions, including a Green Fund which would see $150 million a year of carbon tax revenue directed towards climate change solutions and transit improvements in communities across the province.
- September 8, 2010
- September 7, 2010