6 www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Spring 2022 By Mark Fisher, President and CEO, Council of the Great Lakes Region ACTION PLAN 2030 We are fortunate to live and work in the binational Great Lakes mega-region. After all, this area is responsible for over half of the total value of essential and perishable goods trade between Canada and the United States, from food stuffs to auto parts, fuelling a total gross domestic product (GDP) valued at US$6.0 trillion. Home to 107 million people across Ontario, Quebec, and eight Great Lakes states from New York to Minnesota, the region also supports over 50 million jobs, or one-third of the combined Canadian and American workforces. From a purely Canadian perspective, to say the larger Great Lakes regional economy and this inland freshwater sea are vital to Canada would be an understatement: 40 per cent of Canada’s economic activity is generated here, and one in three Canadians resides here. But this region, while serving as the engine of the North American economy, has an even more important role. It is the guardian of the largest freshwater system in the world. Holding 21 per cent of the world’s and 84 per cent of North America’s surface fresh water, the Great Lakes and its connecting waterways sustain life and support diverse habitats and species, many of which are globally significant and rare. This ecosystem is constantly changing, due to a variety of environmental stressors caused by human activity including urbanization, globalization, pollution, the rapidly changing climate, and the loss of natural spaces and biodiversity. It is for these reasons that the Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR), in partnership with other Great Lakes non-governmental organizations, developed Action Plan 2030, a 10-year plan to protect the Great Lakes. Now more than two years since the Plan and its recommendations were presented to the Government of Canada, CGLR is warning of inaction, noting that the federal and Ontario governments, as well as businesses and civil society, are still not ready to fully understand and respond to the complex environmental challenges on the horizon. For example, the government of Canada administers the Freshwater Action Plan. The Plan is the basis of the federal government’s ability to work with the provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples, and other stakeholders to manage, protect, and restore the country’s major interprovincial and international lakes and rivers, such as the Great Lakes. The federal government spends about $70 million over five years to protect and conserve all of Canada’s major lakes and rivers, with roughly $9 million a year earmarked for the Great Lakes. The United States, on the other hand, is eclipsing this spending, with investments in Great Lakes restoration soon to exceed US$500 million annually. So how does Canada get back on track? How does Canada rebuild its reputation as a global leader on freshwater management, science, and protection after decades of cuts? How does Canada prepare itself to respond to a future where the water challenges of today will seem straightforward in comparison? ≥ First, in keeping with the government’s political and policy commitments, it’s vital that the next federal budget renew and strengthen the Freshwater Action Plan by making an The Great Lakes Basin and Economy Are Constantly Changing. Are We Ready? Wreck Island. Photo: Karl Schiefer
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