Ministry Overview

In early 2002, the government completed its Core Review of all ministries. This review confirmed that the mandate of the Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection is to protect and enhance the quality of British Columbia's water, land and air in a way that contributes to healthy communities, recreational opportunities, a sustainable environment, and the economic well being of the province.

To protect and enhance the quality of water, land and air, the ministry develops policy and legislation, regulations, codes of practice, environmental contracts and covenants (legal agreements), and administers statutes. Regulatory frameworks allow the ministry to set and report on standards for environmental quality, such as discharges and emissions to water, land and air. The ministry also develops frameworks for the acceptable remediation of contaminated sites and the facilitation of effective responses to high-risk environmental and human health and safety emergencies. The foundation for this work is the ministry's Innovation Model (see Figure 1 on page 43), which focuses on outcome-based regulations and reduced inspections for good performers. Implementation of this model will result in lower costs to government and industry and in maintained or better compliance with environmental regulations.

Stewardship of natural resources is key to maintaining and restoring the province's natural diversity. The ministry sets results-based objectives and standards informed by science for activities that affect biological diversity. It also monitors and reports on selected species and habitats, and acquires information on habitat and species health.

The ministry supports the social, economic and cultural values associated with recreational and other uses of Crown land. It does this by managing key fish, wildlife and habitat activities, as well as provincial parks and protected areas. This includes managing facilities for camping and recreation in designated parks.

The ministry's 924 staff are located in Victoria and nine regional offices, as well as in smaller area offices that are located in the regions to provide a visible presence, enforcement and park operations capacity in local areas. (See Appendix 4 for the ministry's organizational chart.)

The ministry continues to make significant progress in making the strategic shifts and fulfilling the New Era commitments first outlined in its 2002/03 – 2004/05 Service Plan. (See Appendix 3.) The ministry's ongoing success in achieving its mandate will depend on its investment in a skilled workforce, information technology, monitoring and reporting, and new performance standards and business models. This requires dealing with resource constraints, reorienting staff skills to meet changing requirements and building relationships with others to achieve results.