Speech

Check Against Delivery

Good morning, everyone!

I am delighted to be here on the shores of Lake Ontario with you this morning to highlight some good news on the Great Lakes.

When one considers the scope of the Great Lakes and all they bring to us, it’s remarkable to think that there are more than three-quarters of a million square kilometres of lakes, channels and tributaries stretching out from each and beyond its horizon.

That network provides a wealth of economic and social benefits for the 40 million people who live on both sides of the border. The Basin, for example, supports more than $330 billion in trade every year between Ontario and the United States. 

It is also a hub for tourism and recreation, but above all, we must never forget that the Great Lakes are a crucial ecosystem that account for 20 per cent of the world’s surface freshwater supply.

But the Great Lakes, which give us so much in a variety of ways, are also at great risk. There are a number of stresses to the ecosystem: population growth and agricultural intensification, the introduction of aquatic invasive species and changing climate conditions, municipal wastewater effluents and industrial discharges. All of these threaten the Great Lakes and require sustained and focused attention.

The good news is that they are getting that attention from governments, community groups, researchers and concerned citizens who are all contributing to improving the state of our Great Lakes.   

I’m so pleased that so many of you who are engaged in this important work have joined us this morning. Today is about taking stock and celebrating our achievements. It’s also about looking over the horizon at the work that still lies ahead.

First, however, I would like to paint a bigger picture for you.

Working in Partnership

The Government of Canada is committed to delivering a clean environment for Canadians, and this commitment includes caring for our precious water resources. This Government believes that clean, safe and secure water is something all Canadians have the right to enjoy.

To ensure that right, we are taking action to clean up our water by funding programs that clean up important water bodies such as the Great Lakes. For example, we have taken action on substances that create problems in our water by setting national standards that limit the amount of phosphorus added to household detergents and other cleaning products.

We are also moving forward with proposed Wastewater System Effluent Regulations. These proposed regulations would phase out the dumping of untreated and undertreated sewage into our waterways by requiring secondary treatment or equivalent of wastewater.

The Government of Canada is also implementing a comprehensive plan to provide better water and wastewater services to First Nations through support of the $330 million First Nations Water and Wastewater Action Plan.

And we are protecting our water quality by tackling the chemicals of highest concern through our Chemical Management Plan that assesses and regulates the chemicals used in industrial and consumer products.

Taken together, these examples represent a snapshot of our strong, comprehensive approach to protecting Canada’s water resources, including the Great Lakes. And although they do benefit from all of these initiatives, this Government also acknowledges that the Great Lakes are of vital importance to this region and to the country as a whole.

That’s why every year we’ve been investing $54 million in this critical resource, including $28 million from my own department, to protect and restore water quality and ecosystem health in the Great Lakes. And that’s why, since 2009, we have committed $235 million for municipal water and wastewater infrastructure in the Great Lakes Areas of Concern.

At the same time, we recognize that the Government of Canada can not restore and protect the Great Lakes by working on its own. So, we work with partners in other jurisdictions to ensure our communities and families can thrive in a healthy environment.

Through the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, for example, Canada and the United States have been collaborating together since 1972 to restore and maintain water quality and aquatic ecosystem health in the Great Lakes. This agreement has been a useful tool, but we need to modernize it so we can better address current and emerging issues. Our two governments are in the process of negotiating amendments to the agreement that will reflect the current situation in the Lakes. 

Closely linked to this bilateral accord is the Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem, which sets out clear roles and responsibilities for the federal and provincial governments. In so doing, it helps Canada live up to its international commitments under our agreement with our neighbours to the south, but just as importantly, the Canada –Ontario Agreement has provided a framework for cooperation and collaboration that has allowed us to make significant progress on the issues facing the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes Sustainability Fund

But governments, even working together, can only do so much. We also need the energy, the resolve and the elbow grease of other agencies and local community stakeholders. That’s why, a little over 10 years ago, the Government of Canada announced the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund as part of a long-term Action Plan to clean up the Great Lakes. 

The Great Lakes Sustainability Fund provides financial support to organizations to undertake community-level projects that serve to restore the environment in Canada’s remaining Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). Remedial Action Plans that have been established to restore the health of these severely degraded geographic areas within the Great Lakes Basin, are being advanced by projects that include fish and wildlife habitat restoration, contaminated sediment remediation, landowner stewardship, and control of pollution from municipal wastewaters and rural runoff.

The Fund has supported more than 800 projects facilitated by our partners and, in this last fiscal year alone, I’m proud to highlight that we’ve invested more than $2.8 million for 43 projects to remediate, clean-up and restore environmental quality in these remaining Canadian Areas of Concern.

Of the 43 projects to receive funding this year through the Great Lakes Sustainability Fund, in the Bay of Quinte there is focus on fish and wildlife habitat restoration. In the St. Clair Area of Concern, work is being done to restore its natural shorelines, and an important project to improve rural runoff water quality going into the Detroit River is happening in that Area of Concern, just to name a few.

Support for Hamilton Harbour Area of Concern

And befitting our location here this morning, it gives me particular pleasure to highlight the work being done in the Hamilton Harbour Area of Concern, of which it’s no secret that this Area of Concern poses special challenges. After all the Harbour is quite a large area and includes several urban centres such as Burlington and Hamilton. So I’m proud to highlight that the Fund has committed just over $338,000 [$338,505] this year for six remediation and clean-up projects in the area with a total value of over $1.1 million [$1,151,807].

We are proud to partner with Ontario Streams, the Hamilton Conservation Authority, the Bay Area Restoration Council, Conservation Halton and The Royal Botanical Gardens. Through their individual projects, activities include watershed rehabilitation and stewardship, aquatic barrier mitigations as well as improving water quality and inflowing water to the Harbour.

The Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) project for example, is doing terrific work on essential fish and wildlife habitat with a project that aims to plant approximately 6500 native plants; monitor water quality; and coordinate public workshops. 

I’m delighted that Tÿs Theÿsmeÿer, Head of Natural Lands with the Royal Botanical Gardens is here with us today to tell us more about the great work being done right here in our backyard.

Conclusion

It is the success of all the individual projects like these that are taking place throughout the Great Lakes that allows us to move ahead toward the larger goal of cleaning up all the remaining Areas of Concern. 

And we are clearly making significant progress. Three of the 17 Canadian Areas of Concern originally identified; Collingwood Harbour, Severn Sound and Wheatley Harbour, have been fully restored to health and officially removed from the list. And we are on track to complete work in six more Areas of Concern in the next 5 to 6 years. That, in and of itself, is a remarkable achievement. I want to personally applaud all of the painstaking work, on all the individual projects, that have brought us to this point.

However, with such a milestone within reach, we must not loose sight that the work is not complete. This government will continue to support efforts to restore environmental quality in Canada’s Areas of Concern and will continue to support all efforts, including the tireless work of our many partnered agencies and community stakeholders, to maintain the already good progress we’ve made towards a healthier Great Lakes.

Thank you.