A handful of Canadian political leaders have left impressive environmental legacies. Mike Harcourt ended B.C.’s “war in the woods,” creating a world class parks network and tough new forestry rules. David Peterson pioneered the blue box recycling program, and made great strides in fighting acid rain and water pollution across Ontario (together with environment minister Jim Bradley). Brian Mulroney, voted Canada’s greenest prime minister, passed three major environmental laws and played key roles in pushing global treaties on species loss, ozone depletion and climate change. But Dalton McGuinty is the greenest of them all, as a review of his environmental record reveals.

Let’s start with controlling urban sprawl — a huge problem in southern Ontario. McGuinty’s government passed the Places To Grow Act, requiring cities and towns to grow within their existing footprints (up, not out). It strengthened the much-abused Planning Act, requiring municipal plans to conserve wildlife, wetlands and waterways. And it created Ontario’s greenbelt, a 1.8 million-acre swath stretching from Niagara Falls to Cobourg where precious green space and headwaters are preserved in Canada’s most populous region.

Perhaps his greatest legacy has been phasing out Ontario’s reliance on coal-fired power — the province’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution (that caused thousands of deaths each year). This phase-out, although it took longer than initially planned, has been the single biggest pollution-reduction action by a North American government in the past decade.

To replace the power from these dirty coal plants, Ontario brought in aggressive measures to promote energy conservation. It also passed the Green Energy Act, aimed at making Ontario a leader in renewable power generation — which UN environment chief Achim Steiner called “one of the boldest moments in history.” The boom in wind farms and solar panels, though sometimes controversial with local landowners, has generated an estimated 20,000 jobs and is positioning Ontario to prosper in the world’s fastest growing energy market.

On the conservation front, McGuinty’s government passed Canada’s toughest law to protect endangered animals, and brought in world-leading standards to safeguard Ontario’s parks. He doubled the amount of protected area in Algonquin Park. And he made one of the largest nature protection commitments ever in the world: a pledge to preserve 50 per cent of Ontario’s northern boreal forest (the largest wild forest area left on Earth), together with First Nations and northern communities.

Left with the fallout from the Walkerton disaster, McGuinty quickly established North America’s strongest drinking water standards — from source to tap. These stringent rules, and the subsequent Water Opportunities Act, have spurred Ontario firms to become world leaders in clean water technology innovation.

Other noteworthy eco-accomplishments include: making Canada’s largest investment ever in public transit, passing a pioneering Toxics Reduction Act (reducing harmful chemicals in manufacturing and promoting green chemistry), and banning the cosmetic use of pesticides — to name just a few.

McGuinty would be the first to give much of the credit for these environmental policies to his cabinet, MPPs, political staff and civil servants — and rightly so. But most of these initiatives would not have come about without his leadership.

Despite these accomplishments, McGuinty’s green record is not spotless. (Politics is the art of the possible, not the perfect.) For example, his government failed to bring in promised rules to control and price greenhouse gas emissions (which would lessen the need for clean energy subsidies). Implementation of the new Endangered Species Act has been slowed by numerous industrial exemptions. And his government did not act on road pricing, arguably the most important (and contentious) measure needed to reduce the GTA’s traffic gridlock and fund new transit infrastructure. These shortcomings are now critical challenges facing Ontario’s new premier.

A hallmark of McGuinty’s green legacy was recognizing that environmental protection and economic development can (and must) go hand in hand. He took office at a time of economic transition. Ontario’s traditional manufacturing base had been waning for years, as part of the global shift in production to low wage countries. The rapidly rising Canadian dollar, stoked by Alberta’s oil boom, exacerbated the problems for Ontario exporters. Going back to the old economy was not (and is not) an option. The world is shifting toward a greener economy — one that will reward energy efficiency, eco-innovation, and wise use of natural resources.

The McGuinty government sought to reposition Ontario to prosper in this emerging clean economy. His policies encouraged jobs, research and investment in rapidly growing fields such as clean energy and water technology (while at the same time maintaining existing manufacturing jobs, such as through the auto bailout). He conserved green space near major population centres, to help make livable communities that will attract and retain skilled workers. And he took on the thankless job of renewing Ontario’s aging power grid (remember the blackout), which was impeding energy reliability, efficiency and innovation.

Like any period of economic transition, it will take time for these new policies and investments to bear fruit. Politicians who take on major structural adjustments are rarely rewarded in their political lifetimes; their accolades are more likely to come in historical hindsight, when the changes for which they prepared us come to pass (think of the early champions of deficit fighting).

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But why wait till then? Next time you wander through the greenbelt, or drink a glass of clean Ontario tap water; when your asthmatic child enjoys a smog-free summer day, or you notice the opening of a new solar panel or wind turbine plant, take a second to tip your hat to Dalton McGuinty.

Stewart Elgie is professor of law and economics at the University of Ottawa (he discloses that the Ontario government has been one of many funders of the research institute he directs).

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