John Gerretsen, minister of the Environment

ReNew Canada: How will new brownfield regulations speed the redevelopment process?

John Gerretsen: The two-tiered approach allows people to use the programming that’s out there to determine what levels of decontamination are required. In some cases, this will reduce processes that used to take a year and a half to a few months.

ReNew: Does speedier development make up for increased costs that may arise out of new soil, groundwater and sediment standards?

JG: In development, time is money. Plus there’s some recognition that our past standards were too basic. We’re now using much more of a risk-based approach, so that the standard will actually be higher or lower according to the proposed use of the site.

ReNew: If the aim is to encourage intensification—which means more infill projects—then won’t most sites be for residential use and therefore be held to a higher standard?

JG: You’d have to talk to the developer regarding use on infill, but I would imagine a number of these brownfield sites will be [redeveloped] for residential use. There’s nothing that rejuvenates a community more than having people living in its centre. In a perfect world, you would actually see a much bigger focus on mixed-use development.

ReNew: In addition to the high cost of remediation, the problem for developers has been liability. For instance, who is responsible when the groundwater is found to contain toxins years later? Typically, owners are liable—a risk that can deter development. Is there anything in the new changes that addresses the problem if liability?

JG: We haven’t really dealt with the civil liability issue—we need to. Being a lawyer, I’m well aware of the fact that anyone can sue you at any time—it’s whether they can prove it that matters. I know it’s a big issue to the financing community, but the new process we’ve put in place means that, provided the Record of Site Condition (RSC) has been filed, if there are any future issue, [developers] can’t be held responsible. We’ve dealt with onsite [contamination issues] through RSC and we’re going to sit down and see if we can deal with offsite. How many actual cases have there been of significance that dealt with offsite contamination issues? Not many.

ReNew: What work still needs to be done in order to create regulations that support the safe and swift redevelopment of contaminated sites?

JG: It’s a moving target. We’ve taken some good steps. We’ve taken the liability issue as far as we can on the regulatory side and we’ve put regulations in place that have been well-received by members of the industry. We have to do more for sites that are severely contaminated, projects where taxation measures aren’t enough to allow redevelopment to take place. It may be that we have to develop a fund that works like a revolving brownfield redevelopment loan system. That’s somewhere down the line. With the current deficit situation, the Province is not in the position to do that. But for the vast majority of sites, liability taxation along with the new regulations are going to [get redevelopment started].

A Special Recognition CUI Brownie was awarded to Ontario’s minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, John Gerretsen, in recoginition of his support and commitment to brownfield redevelopment. As a result of his leadership, brownfield redevelopment has become a central component of the Ontario government’s planning reform agenda. The committee noted that Ontario’s approach to brownfields redevelopment is having a positive impact not only on projects in Ontario but on initiatives in other provinces.

The 2007 “Brownfielder of the Year” was awarded to Mark Brickell with the Niagara Economic Development Corporation. His role brokering partnerships has created a positive relationship between the region, its constituent municipalities and many private sector companies, resulting in numerous city-building initiatives throughout Niagara.

The top CUI Brownie Award for best overall project went to the Oshawa General Motors Centre. The project is a model public-private partnership for redeveloping an important downtown brownfield site into a significant community asset that is in turn encouraging redevelopment of surrounding brownfield lands as part of a wider downtown revitalization strategy.

Three projects in Quebec, the conference’s host province, won CUI Brownie Awards, including the coveted best large-scale project and best medium-scale project awarded to Faubourg Boisbriand and the LAVO Bleach Plant redevelopment respectively. Faubourg Boisbriand is a 230-acre mixed-use redevelopment on the former General Motors assembly plant in Boisbriand, Quebec. The project, in addition to its impressive scale, exemplifies good environmental citizenship and excellence in urban design. The redevelopment of the former LAVO Bleach Plant, completed in 2006 in partnership between the City of Montreal and the Province of Quebec, has provided a significant boost to an underprivileged district in the heart of the City. Rounding out 2007’s top performers, the 100 Highland Road East project in Kitchener, Ontario won the CUI Brownie Award for best small-scale project. The project illustrates best practices for small cities in community engagement, municipal coordination, and urban design.

Acknowledging an important victory for brownfield redevelopment in Canada, Aurion Capital Management and the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA), two Canadian pension funds, were awarded a CUI Brownie for their leadership, taking significant investment positions in the Kilmer Brownfield Equity Fund. Historically, institutional investors have avoided brownfields for fear of the associated environmental liabilities and other risks. The endorsement of Aurion and CMPA sends positive signals to other institutional grade investors and bodes well for bringing brownfield redevelopment in Canada into the mainstream.

The winner of Category 1, recognizing innovative government policies and programs that help remove barriers to brownfield redevelopment, went to the Office of the Brownfield Coordinator, Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Province of Ontario. The award recognizes a number of achievements that are a result of Minister Gerretsen’s and the Office of Brownfield Coordinator’s leadership, including: a) the creation of a special brownfields advisory group; b) concrete actions taken to streamline existing brownfield processes and remove barriers in finance, planning and the environment; c) the building of capacity and awareness among municipalities, the development community, environmental practitioners and lenders through workshops and presentations; and d) the recent passage of legislation to address liability barriers to brownfield redevelopment.

Category 2, presented to projects that demonstrate creative responses to policy initiatives and provide examples of successful solutions to brownfield barriers and issues, was awarded to the Nouvel Anjou-sur-le-lac redevelopment in Anjou, Quebec. The project was awarded for it integrated, partnership-driven, transparent approach, that enabled it to overcome the significant barriers of redeveloping a contaminated site. The project was successful because it acknowledged the differing perspectives of stakeholders while appropriately weighing risks, opportunities and costs.

Category 3, which recognizes outstanding communications, marketing and public engagement, was awarded to East Fraserlands, a 130-acre redevelopment at the south-eastern edge of the City of Vancouver. The project, which embraces leading edge sustainable development guidelines, undertook an extensive 3-year community planning process building a shared vision with the City and its surrounding neighbourhoods.

The CUI Brownie for Category 4, awarded for sustainable design and technological innovation, was given to the Bamberton Revitalization Project on Vancouver Island. The award recognizes a number of features supporting the sustainability of the project, including: using a permanent on-site solution to store contaminated soils; focusing the majority of new development on former contaminated lands, leaving more natural parkland for the public; protecting culturally significant sites in partnership with neighbouring First Nations communities; preparing a green transit plan; taking steps to ensure a sustainable water supply for the new community; and integrating sustainable energy solutions into the project design.

For more details on these projects and the other finalists, visit www.canurb.com/awards then click on CUI Brownies.

This year’s CUI Brownie Awards presentation will take place in Montreal at Canadian Brownfields 2007 on October 18-19. For a complete list of finalists or for more details about Canadian Brownfields, click here.

Bill Humber, chair of Seneca College’s Centre for the Built Environment came without powerpoint slides and made the most attention-grabbing presentation of the first panel. On that same panel, Wal Mart Canada’s director of design, Roger Snowball, talked LED lighting and overall efficiency. He said that customers remain loyal even when changes are made for the sake of a more sustainable building.

John Gerretsen, Ontario’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, gave a standard speech that prompted engineer David Elfstom to ask him during question period: “What definition of sustainability are you working with?” The Minister’s response was something along the lines of “It’s good and it’s a goal we’re working towards.”