The ''Environmental Bill of Rights'' (EBR) is a provincial law in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

passed in 1993 to provide a

bill of rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pr ...

to Ontario residents for environmental matters. Significantly, it gives Ontario residents the right to participate in environmental decision-making. From 1993 to 2019 the provincial government's compliance with the EBR was monitored by the

Environmental Commissioner of Ontario The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO; french: Commissaire à l’environnement de l’Ontario) was a non-partisan officer of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario charged with upholding the province's ''Environmental Bill of Rights'' (EBR) ...

, a non-partisan officer of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Member of Provincial ...

. Since the dissolution of the ECO's office in 2019, responsibility for overseeing the EBR has been the responsibility of the

Auditor General of Ontario The Auditor General of Ontario is an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to aid accountability by conducting independent audits of Ontario provincial government operations. The office was created in 1869. Office The Aud ...

. The EBR gives citizens the right, under specific circumstances: *to be notified and to comment on environmentally significant government proposals, using the Environmental Registry; *to ask a ministry to review a law or to investigate harm to the environment *to appeal a ministry decision *to sue for harm to a public resource *to sue for public nuisance causing environmental harm *to be protected from employer reprisals for using the above rights. The EBR also lays out responsibilities for those ministries that are prescribed: *to develop and publish a Statement of Environmental Values, a statement that guides the ministry when it makes decisions that might affect the environment. The ministry must consider its SEV when it makes an environmentally significant decision. The minister must consider the SEV when deciding to conduct a Review or Investigation under the ''EBR''. *to post notices on the Environmental Registry for environmentally significant Acts, regulations and policies, and to consider these comments when making their decisions. The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario reports annually on ministries' compliance with the ''EBR''.

Energy Conservation

Between 2009 and 2019, the ''EBR'' required the ECO to report annually "on the progress of activities in Ontario to reduce the use or make more efficient use of electricity, natural gas, propane, oil and transportation fuels." The ECO produced two-part annual reports on

energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...

, the first part on the broader policy framework affecting energy conservation in Ontario, and the second part on the results of initiatives that are underway. The energy conservation reports issued by Commissioner

Dianne Saxe Dianne Saxe is a Canadian lawyer and politician who was elected to represent Ward 11 University—Rosedale on Toronto City Council following the 2022 municipal election. Before entering politics, Saxe practised environmental law and served as t ...

2016-2019 are posted on the SaxeFacts website.

Climate Change

Between 2009 and 2019, the ''EBR'' required the ECO to report annually on the progress of activities in Ontario to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The ECO produced annual Greenhouse Gas Progress Reports. The Greenhouse Gas emission (climate change) reports issued by Commissioner

2016-2019 are posted on the SaxeFacts website.

References

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External links

Environmental Bill of RightsAbout the Environmental Bill of Rights (Environmental Commissioner of Ontario)
1993 in the environment Ontario provincial legislation Environmental law in Canada 1993 in Ontario 1993 in Canadian law