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Melodee Martinuk Chronicle Staff The Ontario government must provide municipalâ€" ities with greater financial aid in cleaning up environmental problems such as the coal tar contamination discovered at the site of Waterloo‘s new city centre and in the city‘s water supply, says the leader of the provincial New Democratic Party. Speaking Monday afternoon in Waterloo, following a tour of the Laidlaw Waste System‘s waste recovery program and a meeting with regional chairman Ken Seiling, Bob Rae called for the establishment of a provincial "superfund," generated through a tax on chemicals, which muncipalities could draw from "to deal with this horrible legacy of decades of environâ€" ment neglect." ‘"‘The muncipality does not have the equipment, does not have the staff, and perhaps most important of Kitchenerâ€"Waterioo Cares where it really counts all, it‘s not a municipal issue as to what the standards are," said Rae. ‘"The public recognizes there‘s a problemâ€"that cost of clean up has to be fairly distributed through society and those companies that are at the core of the problem have to play their _ He predicted the superfund would raise $50 million each year. _ _ â€" â€" o Since its election the David Peterson Liberal government, and Environment Minister Jim Bradley, have failed to provide adequate leadership on environmental issues, said Rae, noting that funding of the Ministry of Environment has dropped by 17 per cent since 1981. *‘"*What I have found is the the ministry seems to be divided within itself. I get conflicting messages. They talk a good game, the minister likes to be seen as the Tom Terrific of the environment, but when it comes to resources, they aren‘t there," the NDP leader said. ho M\ Dealing with mm the legacy of **~.~"\ environmental ammnootttt: “\\\} ‘Ea negleCt â€"WATERLOO WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1986 â€" PAGE 5 "The minister (Jim Bradley) likes to be seen as the Tom Terrific of the environment, but when it comes to resources, they aren‘t there." Rae said the only positive steps taken by the province were those set out in the accord the Liberals signed with the NDP following the last provincial election. ‘"Other than the Spills Bill, acid rain legislation and tougher penaities for polluters they have done nothing," he said. He criticized the Liberals for failing to act on the principle of making the polluter pay and not introducing a provinceâ€"wide recycling program. Rae has spent the past twoâ€"andâ€"aâ€"half weeks touring the province, and he said that at every stop, including Kâ€"W, municipal leaders have complained about the province‘s lack of financial commitment to dealing with the problems of pollution cleanups. ‘What looked like a good report card in the beginning has clearly gone the other way," said Rae. ‘"‘This government seems to be as reluctant to deal with the costs of these issues as the Tories were." ORDER YOUR TICKETS NOW. Call 576â€"4250 or 744â€"1555 NDP leader Bob Rae