Publication - 1 April, 1998
From 1992 to 1995, under Premier Mike Harcourt, the BC government made better environmental stewardship a top priority. Environment Ministers John Cashore and Moe Sihota were strong voices for environmental progress. Many promising initiatives were started, such as the Protected Areas Strategy, the Clean Air Strategy, and the Water Stewardship program, and the first steps towards making our society more sustainable were taken.In December 1995, Glen Clark took over from Mike Harcourt as Premier of BC The NDP were subsequently re-elected. Cathy McGregor was appointed the new Environment Minister. Since the change in leadership, environmental stewardship in BC has taken a dramatic turn for the worse.Sustainability is no longer a government priority. Environmental laws have been rolled back, important decisions reversed, critical promises broken, national and international commitments violated and enforcement has dropped off. In short, our progress towards achieving a more sustainable British Columbia, towards protecting our health, our environment, our communities and the interests of future generations, has been derailed and in some cases, even reversed.