Canada's water, parks get criticism

OTTAWA -- Canadians are being forced to drink unsafe water, fish stocks are endangered, and national parks are under threat because Ottawa is doing a very poor job of protecting the environment, according to an official report issued yesterday.

The stinging document by Johanne Gelinas, Canada's environment commissioner, makes grim reading for a Liberal government already under fire for what critics say is its patchy environmental record.

Gelinas said government initiatives on ensuring sustainable development were regularly undermined by bad management.

''A recurring theme throughout this year's report is that the federal government suffers from a chronic inability to see its own initiatives to completion. It starts out but rarely, if ever, reaches the finish line," she wrote. ''This is not good news, given the mounting evidence that we are on an unsustainable path."

Environment Minister Stephane Dion acknowledged that the government needed to improve its record, but said Ottawa had already done a great deal. ''The environmental challenges grew so fast that we need to adjust our [structures] and catch up. We have done a lot, but the challenges are very, very big," he said.

Gelinas blamed government mismanagement for serious problems with water quality. ''Not all Canadians can assume that their drinking water is always safe," she said.