The second portion of the bill deals with the Environmental Compensation Corporation. This corporation was set up under David Peterson's government, for the sole purpose of managing compensation claims involving spills of environmental contaminants. The operational costs to run it amount to over four times as much as the compensation it has provided. This is not a responsible use of taxpayers' dollars. Since the court system remains the most effective means of obtaining compensation, we intend to wind down the corporation.
Environmental safeguards remain in place.
Bill 57 does not affect the ability of municipalities and other parties to seek compensation from those responsible for spills. The owners and controllers of spilled materials continue to be responsible for cleanup and compensation. The law is clear and unchanged. The third part of the bill repeals the Ontario Waste Management Corporation Act. Finally, we propose amendments that would give the Ministry of Environment and Energy the authority to recover administrative costs for some specific services.