The Canadian Press reports, “The federal government’s funding of Great Lakes cleanup efforts as touted by the country’s environment minister Thursday was an insult to World Water Day, critics said. They said the money the Conservatives are contributing is a fraction of what’s needed to get the job done. ‘The government is allocating less than 0.7 per cent of the amount needed to protect the Great Lakes,’ the Council of Canadians said in a statement.”
“Environment Minister Peter Kent paid a visit to the Toronto waterfront Thursday to ‘highlight’ efforts to clean up the Great Lakes and Ottawa’s contribution to the cause. The Conservative government allocated $3.3 million to 46 projects in its 2011-2012 budget for projects on the Canadian side of the lakes. …In its response, the council said as much as $500 million would be needed for a ‘comprehensive plan’ to protect the Great Lakes. ‘(The) funding announcement is absurdly inadequate,’ the council said. …’This federal announcement of negligible funding for the Great Lakes is all the more farcical, given the government’s plans to remove habitat protection from the Fisheries Act,’ the council said.”
The Council’s ‘media availability’ release, which prompted this coverage, can be read at http://canadians.org/media/water/2012/22-Mar-12-4.html.
The Council of Canadians will be launching a speaking tour around the Great Lakes starting on May 15. We will be calling for the Great Lakes to be recognized as a public trust, commons and a protected bioregion. For more information, please see http://canadians.org/greatlakes.
