Environment Minister John Baird says the federal government accepts the findings of a critical environmental report and will be judged on how it responds.

Progress has been made in assessing dangerous chemicals, managing pesticide safety and cleaning up contaminated sites, Environment Minister John Baird says.
(CBC)

"I have a lot of respect for the environment commissioner," he said Friday. "We're accepting all of the findings. We want to do a better job."

The report, released Thursday by environment commissioner Ron Thompson, gave the government an "unsatisfactory" grade in nine of 14 areas, including protection of endangered species, Great Lakes cleanup, control of invasive species such as zebra mussels and just keeping its own operations green.

Progress has been made in assessing dangerous chemicals, managing pesticide safety and cleaning up contaminated sites, he said.

While the report examines the actions of past governments, much of it examines action taken since 2004-2005.

Baird said the government accepts its share of the blame, but argued it has had a short period to deal with environmental issues. He pointed out that auditors recommended six years ago that the government develop a comprehensive list of species at risk.

"We've had two years. We can't clean up the mess we inherited overnight," said Baird. "We'll take action."

The Species at Risk Act requires the government to develop recovery strategies for 228 species as of last June. The three departments involved — Parks Canada, Fisheries and Oceans and Environment Canada — have recovery plans for 55 species.

Baird also said Ottawa has taken action on cleaning up the Great Lakes, which represent about 20 per cent of the world's freshwater supply.

The Conservative government has allocated millions to help clean up several contaminated Great Lake sites, said Baird, including the Randall Reef in Hamilton, the St. Clair River, the Bay of Quinte and designating the Lake Superior national marine conservation area.

"We've treated the Great Lakes as a dumping ground for generations," he said. "We're moving aggressively to try to deal with the problem. We'll be judged on that."

Last month, a U.S. study suggested that people living in 26 polluted areas around the Great Lakes face higher rates of lung, breast and colon cancer. The study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to be released but parts have been leaked on the internet.