Related Initiatives

Risk Management

The Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection is an active proponent of risk management and has considerable experience in examining risks related to human health, the environment, public and private property, Crown assets and its own business operations. As a result, the ministry is strongly positioned to address the government-wide Enterprise Risk Management Initiative and has incorporated a risk-management performance measure under Goal 4 in this Service Plan.

The ministry's continued commitment to effective risk management practices is reflected in the recent panels and workshops it has sponsored. The Risk-Based Responses to Human-Wildlife Conflict MLA panel and the Integrating Risk into Ministry Decision Making workshops for staff are two examples. Last year, the ministry included risk information in its Annual Report in an effort to foster understanding about potential risks faced by the environment and by those who share in its protection (e.g., other government bodies, partners and the public).

In this Service Plan, the ministry includes an updated list of risks that may affect its ability to deliver its mandate (see Appendix 2). To measure its progress in implementing the government's Enterprise Risk Management Initiative, the ministry is piloting an Organizational Risk Maturity Matrix ² in collaboration with the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management.

Climate Change

Climate change is as much a concern in British Columbia as it is in other parts of the world, requiring immediate and continuing action such as reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. To address this issue, the provincial government, in partnership with other levels of government, is developing a strategy to respond to climate change. In conjunction with the Ministries of Energy and Mines, Sustainable Resource Management, Forests, and Small Business and Economic Development, the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection's primary role is to coordinate broader policy development and monitor key activities.

Some of the objectives will be to:

• take action to address long-term environmental and economic risks associated with climate change;
• contribute to British Columbia's economic turnaround by creating business certainty for investment and building on competitive advantages; and
• engage the federal government and get a fair share of federal spending for British Columbia in the implementation of the national climate change plan.

The ministry will be working with others on a variety of actions to address the climate change issue.

Deregulation

As part of its New Era commitments, the government pledged to reduce regulations by 33% overall. The ministry's three-year plan is to reduce regulations by 38%, which will meet this commitment. (See the performance measure for deregulation under Goal 4, Objective 1.)

• As of March 31, 2003, the ministry reduced its regulations by 5,143, or 23.87%, from a baseline of 21,541 regulations.
• The target for the 2003/04 fiscal year (by March 31, 2004) is a reduction of 2,257 regulations, or a further 11% of the total.
• Between April 1, 2004 and June 30, 2004, the ministry's regulations will be reduced by an additional 4%.

2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

The success of the Vancouver 2010 bid for the Winter Games means significant opportunities and benefits for British Columbia. The province's parks will be showcased as world-class tourism destinations to an international audience of more than two billion people.

Many of the improvements to existing infrastructure and the construction of new facilities for the Games will be subject to an environmental review that adheres to environmental assessment legislation at federal and provincial levels. Such assessments are comprehensive and may include a review of the project in terms of its effects on the environment, economy and human health, and on social and cultural issues in communities (e.g., impacts on heritage sites or watersheds).

The ministry is committed to actively supporting the identification of appropriate environmental standards, reviewing project design proposals (e.g., assessing best management practices and innovative mitigation and enhancement strategies) and participating in the resolution of land-use issues, while ensuring the long-term protection of the environment.