7 www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Spring 2022 historic investment of $100 million each year for the next 10 years, with a major focus on the Great Lakes, so that Canada can fully meet its obligations under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). ≥ Second, consistent with Action Plan 2030, clear priorities and actions must be developed with respect to: • Responding to climate change in the Great Lakes and protecting shoreline communities • Reducing human and environmental exposure to toxins • Accelerating the reduction of nutrient pollution from agricultural nutrient run-off • Stopping bacteriological contamination at beaches by investing in wastewater treatment plants and cleaning up beaches ≥ Third, the government must move forward with the creation of an independent Canadian water agency reporting directly to the minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada. The aim of the agency would be to consolidate and coordinate federal water efforts and support provinces and territories, including in developing and updating river basin and large watershed agreements. ≥ Fourth, once a Canadian water agency is established and its mandate and funding in place, initiate a comprehensive review of the 50-year-old Canada Water Act. Modernizing the Act will ensure that Canada has a legislative framework in place that reflects modern realities, such as including climate change and Indigenous water rights. ≥ Finally, in tandem with a strengthened Freshwater Action Plan and Canadian water agency at the federal level, it’s imperative that the province of Ontario match the federal government’s ambition for protecting the Great Lakes through the Canada-Ontario Agreement or COA, the implementing agreement for the GLWQA in Canada, and through Ontario’s own Great Lakes Strategy. As cottagers, you understand the importance of clean water and nature. And I suspect you understand better than most how important water will become in the future. Therefore, if you care about Georgian Bay and the Great Lakes as much as I do, now is the time to add your voice and call on the governments of Canada and Ontario to do more to protect the largest freshwater system on the planet by writing to your federal and Ontario members of parliament to ask them to call for these actions to be taken in their budgets in 2022. If you would like to learn more about the Council of the Great Lakes Region and our work to protect the Great Lakes while ensuring the sustainable growth of the regional economy, please visit councilgreatlakesregion.org/ or write me at mark@councilgreatlakesregion.ca. American Camp Island. Photo: Georgian Bay Land Trust
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