Appendix 1. Strategic Context

Vision, Mission and Values

Vision

The ministry's vision is a clean, healthy and naturally diverse environment that enriches people's lives, now and in the future.

Mission

The ministry provides leadership and support to British Columbians to help them limit the adverse effects of their individual and collective activities on the environment, while fostering economic development and providing recreational opportunities.

Organizational Values and Principles

The ministry plays a leadership role in managing British Columbia's natural resources in an environmentally sustainable manner and in promoting safe, healthy communities. Fulfillment of this role depends on a skilled workforce operating in an innovative and accountable culture, an integrated approach to service delivery and an emphasis on shared stewardship. Our values and principles guide us in the attainment of our goals and are reflected in our objectives and the measures we have developed to gauge our success in meeting them.

Values

• We respect our staff and create a healthy workplace that sets and communicates clear expectations, and supports a culture of staff development, recognition, reward and opportunity.
• We ensure that professional accountability and discipline characterize our behaviour.
• We focus on achieving high environmental standards through a culture of continuous adaptation to change.
• We strive to consistently meet agreed-upon client requirements and deliver our services in a transparent, fair and timely manner.
• We are committed to continuous improvement in the environmental management of the province.

Principles

• We believe a sustainable environment is central to providing economic and social opportunities for all British Columbians.
• We believe a sustainable environment is a naturally diverse environment.
• We believe that all sectors of society are responsible for ensuring a sustainable environment — government, business, industry and citizenry.
• We believe that citizens have the right to safe, healthy communities.

Planning Context

How the ministry plans its activities and delivers its services is influenced both by government priorities and by trends in the environment, economy and society. Each year, the ministry assesses its progress in meeting these priorities (which are outlined in the government's Strategic Plan). As well, it carries out a broad scan of the external factors — globally, nationally and provincially — that shape the context in which the organization must operate. The ministry looks for key economic, environmental and social (or, more specifically, community) trends, and analyzes how these might affect its work in pursuing the government's goals.³

In short, these yearly reviews give the ministry the opportunity to continually refine its strategic direction and improve its business planning methods.

Economic Trends

A robust economy depends on a healthy environment. Programs to protect and enhance the environment require the support of public funds. And such funds are only available if the economy is strong.

British Columbia's economy has long relied on the province's vast wealth of natural resources — for energy generation, raw material extraction and tourism development. Long-term sustainability of a high-quality environment therefore goes hand in hand with the sustainability of a strong, stable economy.

To assess the economic situation in British Columbia and its impact on strategic planning, the ministry tracks a number of global, national and provincial economic factors. Notable trends identified in the last year include the following:

• Terrorism, war, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, "mad cow disease") and a volatile stock market have all affected the global economy in the past year. In British Columbia, the impact of these factors was felt as a decrease in the tourism industry and reduced economic growth across all sectors. The British Columbia economy grew 1.7% in 2003, slower than the 2.7% expected at the time of last year's budget, according to British Columbia's independent economic forecast council. The council now expects growth in British Columbia's economy to pick up to 2.9% in 2004.⁴
• The ongoing softwood lumber dispute with the U.S. and damage caused by extensive forest fires in the summer of 2003 have hurt both community and provincial economies.
• Health care costs are increasing nationally, due in part to an aging population, and are impacting resources and budgets in all provinces.
• International awareness of British Columbia's natural resources and environmental issues has grown significantly. Such awareness by parties concerned about long-term global sustainability could affect the province's success in the marketplace if not taken into account.
• The elimination of the corporate capital tax in British Columbia, the shift to performance-based regulations and faster government decision-making are improving the province's business climate and making investment in the province more attractive.

Many of these factors clearly pose a challenge to maintaining a strong provincial economy, and therefore affect the priorities and choices made by the ministry in meeting its mandate to protect the environment. Recent forest fires, for example, resulted in severe economic losses. Such losses extend from the destruction of homes and businesses to the destruction of forests and wildlife, ecological systems protecting watersheds, and infrastructure (e.g., bridges and park facilities). Forgone revenue from timber harvesting, tourism (e.g., visitors paying fees for fishing, hunting, camping and park day use), and other activities will unavoidably impact the pool of resources available for ministry operations.

Environmental and Human Health Trends

As populations in several areas of the province have steadily increased, so has awareness of the associated risks to both the environment and human health. Road development, natural resource consumption (notably, of water, land and energy) and the discharge of pollutants into the environment have a significant impact on the quality of the province's air, land and water — and therefore on the health of British Columbians.

The ministry has identified several key trends in this area.

• The rise in global temperatures and its impact on climate is a concern in British Columbia. For example, increased temperatures in northern British Columbia may be affecting both the quantity and quality of the province's water supply. As temperatures rise, surface and groundwater resources are decreasing, but contamination and turbidity of the existing water supply are increasing.
• The high use of treated water for irrigation and other non-drinking water uses is putting pressure on drinking water sources across the province. Many communities are now having to consider new approaches. For example, the City of Vernon successfully initiated a water conservation program, reclaiming grey water for re-use on recreational areas and agricultural land.
• The rapid expansion of human activities, especially in southern and coastal areas of British Columbia, continues to impact natural habitats and increase pressure on species.
• New issues facing society and government include the West Nile virus, drought and the level of pharmaceuticals in the environment. As well, the increase in biotechnology and nanotechnology and their possible effects on human health and the environment are becoming concerns.

These factors have influenced the ministry's strategic planning in a number of ways. Initiatives include: reducing red tape by reviewing and revising regulations and legislation; focusing on activities that pose the highest risk to the environment; and encouraging government and other agencies to incorporate environmental technology and clean energy into their operations.

Community Trends

The economy, environment and human health all influence, and are influenced by, the expectations and actions of society and community.⁵

Among the key social trends the ministry is aware of are the following:

• Citizens are moving outside traditional models, such as voting, to express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with government programs and policies through consumer actions and involvement in special interest groups.
• Citizens continue to demand more access to environmental information.
• Differences between how urban and rural citizens approach issues related to the environment and economic development are becoming increasingly apparent.
• Risk, both perceived and scientifically based, is not clearly understood. For example, the long-term impact of the risks associated with continued toxic emissions into the air is not yet fully understood.

A challenge to the ministry is reconciling circumstances in which the public supports services that conflict with its expectations. For example, there is strong public support for increased opportunities related to fish, wildlife and park recreation services, yet many citizens do not want to pay for such services. Protection of our water resource is another example. While most people say they think it is an important goal, they may not be willing to play an individual role in water conservation.

Nevertheless, the ministry is currently taking several actions in response to its assessment of community trends and their effect on the environment. These include working with communities to develop key parks and tourism destinations, facilitating recovery planning, addressing public interest in protecting habitats, encouraging ecocertification to preserve international markets where feasible, and increasing public accessibility to environmental information through the Internet (e.g., through the government's electronic service delivery platform).

In Conclusion

Analyzing trends in the economy, environment and community and understanding their interrelationships are critical steps in helping the ministry create effective legislation and programs. Also important is recognizing that the meaningful planning and delivery of services relies on shared stewardship of the province's resources. Partnerships must continue to be a priority.

Highlights of Strategic Shifts and Changes from Previous Service Plan

The ministry continues to make significant progress in achieving the strategic shifts it first outlined in its 2002/03 – 2004/05 Service Plan. However, the ministry's ongoing success in making these shifts will depend on its investment in a skilled workforce, information technology, monitoring and reporting, and new delivery models. An example of the latter is the ministry's Innovation Model. This model drives the changes necessary to achieve the ministry's strategic shifts and gain the significant benefits of lower costs, equal or better compliance and improved provincial competitiveness.

		Figure 1: Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection Innovation Model

Challenges remain in achieving the ministry's shifts. The table below shows some of the initiatives the ministry has undertaken to achieve continuous improvement in managing its resources, streamlining regulations, and establishing standards to ensure effective stewardship of the province's environmental resources.

Strategic Shifts and Key Initiatives

Changes from Last Year's Service Plan

The 2003/04 – 2005/06 Service Plan differs from its predecessor in the following ways:

• The ministry has endeavoured to incorporate feedback provided in meetings with staff from the Office of the Auditor General. These informational sessions took place following the Building Better Reports reviews of the ministry's 2001/02 and 2002/03 annual Service Plan reports.
• The performance measures have been refined in an effort to begin to focus on a few critical aspects of performance. All measures include a rationale and targets. Benchmark information is provided, where available.
• The organizational chart included in Appendix 4 reflects the realignment of ministry functions formerly carried out by the Planning, Innovation and Enforcement Division. This has not changed the core business areas under which the ministry operates.
• The ministry has updated some of its goals, objectives, strategies and performance measures to reflect completed activities, new government priorities and the realignment of business functions in the ministry.
• The ministry's approach to the government-wide Enterprise Risk Management Initiative is outlined (see the "Related Initiatives" section and Appendix 2) and a risk-management performance measure has been included under Goal 4.
• The ministry's involvement in supporting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is outlined (see the "Related Initiatives" section).

Consistency with Government Strategic Plan

The following table shows key linkages between ministry strategies and corresponding goals and strategies in the government's 2004/05 – 2006/07 Strategic Plan.