WATER QUALITY

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question is to the Minister of the Environment. Later this week, we're going to be hearing a lot about water and this government's plan for it, but as of today-today-Ontario has 435 outstanding boil-water advisories. That's 10 years after Walkerton.

Do you have a plan to ensure that all Ontarians have clean water?

Hon. John Gerretsen: I thank you very much for the question because it allows me to talk about what we've done as a result of the tragedy at Walkerton. There are some good things that came out of that, even though it was a tragedy itself, which we all acknowledge.

Let's talk about the 119 drinking water inspectors that we have hired since that time who, on a daily basis, look after the drinking water situation here in the province of Ontario by inspecting municipal drinking water systems. We can also talk about the 19 source water protection committees that are doing excellent work right now in mapping out and planning out the sources of the various water supplies around this province, whether it's river or stream water or whether we're talking about groundwater. We can talk about the 17,000 new and existing drinking water professionals who have been trained so far at the Walkerton Clean Water Centre. A lot has happened, including-

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: When a minister doesn't address the question by saying when he's going to deal with 435 boil-water advisories, that says to me that the minister doesn't have an answer at all. But I'll try: When are you going to protect those people who are currently dealing with boil-water advisories? When are you going to take that on?

Hon. John Gerretsen: As a result of the Walkerton inquiry, we have implemented each and every one of the recommendations that were made by Justice O'Connor. It is true that a lot of work has been done in the whole area of providing Ontarians with clean drinking water. More can always be done. Obviously, we are concerned with any drinking water order that's out there right now. We are addressing those issues on a day-to-day basis.