14 www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Fall 2023 By Rupert Kindersley, Executive Director ED ADVOCACY REPORT This summer, GBA president Liz Phillips, Vice-President Steve Sprague, and I were invited to speak at your annual member meetings, and, as always, we thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting with old friends, meeting many new ones, finding out what issues matter to you, and visiting different parts of our beautiful Bay. Here are a few of the top priorities we are currently working on: Floating Homes The strategic alliance that GBA forged in May 2022 has steadily gathered strength and purpose, and has made good progress with public submissions to Transport Canada (TC), requesting that the same floating home regulations that apply in British Columbia are put in place in Ontario. One might think this would be a straightforward request, but TC seems to be highly resistant to change, so your Floating Homes Not Vessels alliance has now moved ahead to Phase 2 of the TC strategy, visit: bit.ly/36zjtUv for full details. There is a lot more work still to do on this file. We find it peculiar that a federal government that has a strong environmental agenda would resist applying consistent rules that will prevent potential pollution on floating homes across the country. But we trust that logic and common sense will eventually prevail. After all, in the photos below, you can see the pollution already caused by unencapsulated foam particles in the water at the floating home construction site in Port Severn, which has, thankfully, now been closed down. GBA would like to thank: ≥ Our municipal partners in the coalition for their success in getting this Port Severn site closed down ≥ The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), led by Minister Graydon Smith, for enacting new regulations to prevent floating homes from accessing Crown land ≥ The excellent leadership of the Gloucester Pool Cottagers’ Association in driving progress and results in this alliance ≥ Your vital support submitting emails and signing petitions Water Quality With the significant rise in cruise ship traffic, we have been looking into how their sewage, greywater, and garbage is dealt with. So far, we have determined that they are permitted to discharge treated sewage (in “designated sewage areas”) and untreated greywater (anywhere) out in the Bay. We will find out exactly what this means, how it impacts (or not) your water quality and what, if anything, we should be doing about it. We are collaborating with Georgian Bay Forever (GBF) and will work together to complete this report shortly. We recognize that cruise ships boost tourism and revenue for communities such as Little Current, Killarney, and Parry Sound. GBF may also be able to help with investigating the mercury levels in the fish you consume. In particular, we are interested in getting more information about how mercury levels are being measured and reported to ensure you have full, accurate, and up-todate information and guidance. The large 2018 fire in the Key River area caused an increase in local mercury levels. Additionally, atmospheric mercury from coal-fired power stations continues to contribute to this issue. It is important to remain vigilant and regularly monitor any changes in mercury levels, rather than relying on outdated information. Last but not least, the dock foam regulations that the Ontario government undertook to put in place in May this year, have still not been applied, and, until they are, it is still legal to
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