From the Council of Canadians
(Niagara At Large is posting this piece from the Ottawa-based citizens group Council of Canadians, responding to a lack of funding for protecting the Great Lakes in the Ontario government’s March 27 budget.)
While the Ontario budget was released on Tuesday, there was no mention of funding for the Great Lakes. The Council of Canadians is calling on the McGuinty government to fulfill their promise of $52 million in spending for protecting the Great Lakes.
The Council of Canadians' Maude Barlow
“The Great Lakes are a commons – something that belongs to the Earth and all living beings – and are in dire need of funding to address invasive species, wetlands destruction, water withdrawals, multi-point pollution, climate change and other threats,” says Maude Barlow, National Chairperson for the Council of Canadians, “We need to invest in the Great Lakes now to protect it for current and future generations.”
During election campaigning MPP Laurel Broten of Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding outlined a $52 million plan to clean up the Great Lakes called the Great Lakes Protection Act.
The Liberal party promised to use the funding to clean up 17 “hot spots,” including Nipigon Bay on Lake Superior and the Niagara River among others, reduce water pollution, clean up provincial beaches and promote activities on the Great Lakes. Earlier this week, Ontario’s Environment Minister, Jim Bradley, announced that they are looking for suggestions on the proposed Great Lakes Protection Act. However, he failed to confirm any funding commitments.
“Year after year, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) points to the sorry state of the Great Lakes. ECO Gord Miller has warned that Lake Ontario beaches are more polluted in Canada than they are in the United States. Last year, he pointed to chronic underfunding as a key barrier to protection of the Great Lakes,” says Emma Lui, Water Campaigner for the Council of Canadians. “In order to be effective and to fulfill their campaign promise, the Liberal government needs to back the Great Lakes Protection Act up with the $52 million they committed to last fall.”
For more information on the Council of Canadians and its concerns with respect to protecting and preserving our Great Lakes waters click on; www.canadians.org/greatlakes .
(Niagara At Large invites our readers to share their views on this post in the comment boxes below.)
Niagara At Large 
We are all thankful for Maude Barlow, who fights fervently for our most important assets; the air we breathe and the water we drink.
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Well, they would, wouldn’t they?! The Harper Government [renamed, instead of the Cdn gov’t.], don’t care about the environment. Look at the budget leveled yesterday, in which they monitor Charitable Environmental groups as enemies, [but of course not the Fraser Institue, against all Social Justice issues]. No, just the groundroots groups that believe in Climate Change, science opposed to religious idealogy, and hope for a better Canada for our descendants….. why care about Fracking chemicals being deposited into our Niagara River going over the falls to L. Ontario. Why care about anything detrimental to wildlife habitats, or any of it……
I ask you.
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Dalton Mc,Guinty and his promises are as empty as usual, the guy promised something like 59 million dollars to clean up the sewage going into the waterways that drain into the Great Lakes, he then when elected has a bad case of amnesia just like the time he was in Fort Erie and said our Hospital was safe and secure, also said he would not raise our taxes. he is not an honourable or believable person. so why should we respect anything he says.I dislike him and his Liberal Government.Andrea should pull the rug from underneath them.and give them the boot.
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“The Great Lakes are a commons – something that belongs to the Earth and all living beings – and are in dire need of funding ”
If this is the case then all living beings should anti up a buck each and all the problems would be solved.
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I had sent an email some time ago to Jim Bradley expressing my concerns about Fracking and our Great Lakes water. Just the day before the budget came down, Bradley wrote me back, regretting the delay in response, but I do wonder about the timing, given he is the MOE.
Hi Gail – It would be interesting to know what kind of response you received from Environment Minister Bradley on the Fracking issue and the Great Lakes, since we have not heard much publicly from him on these subjects. NAL publisher Doug Draper
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It was the usual bureacrat-speak. A long letter, “‘our government is working with …. have concerns about ” etc and so on, with best wishes, of course. I noted today in The Standard, (sorry) that the regional pull out section is all about Great Lakes water, bottled water, and an interview with Mayor McMullan that discusses fracking.
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