News Release – Jones: Reintroduces Legislation to Make Sewage Bypass Occurrences Public

(Queen’s Park) – Today, Sylvia Jones MPP Dufferin-Caledon re-introduced legislation to require the Ministry of Environment to publish within 24 hours instances of sewage bypasses into local waterways; the Sewage Bypass Reporting Act. The prorogation of the legislature on March 15^th means that all legislation needs reintroduced to begin the legislative process again.

“Municipalities already report to the Ministry of Environment when they are forced to bypass sewage into local waterways. However, so far the Ministry has refused to make that information public,” said Jones.

“My proposed legislation is important because it would ensure residents know when there is partially treated or untreated sewage in their local waterways, and it would help local municipalities make the case for investments in sewer and water treatment infrastructure,” said Jones.

“Since my first introduction of the Sewage Bypass Reporting Act, nearly 60 municipalities, organizations and conservation authorities have written letters of support,” said Jones.

“The proroguing of the Legislature by the Liberals was intended to be a political reset for the tired Liberal government, but the reality is that it means that all of the progress on legislation must be restarted. Despite the Liberal government proroguing the legislature for political reasons, I will continue to use every opportunity to fight for the legislation I believe will make a difference to the people of Dufferin-Caledon,” said Jones.