Lana Pollack
The Toronto Star reports, “The governments of U.S. and Canada have to invest substantially more in scientists and research in order to save the Great Lakes, says (Lana Pollack) the co-chair of the International Joint Commission that monitors the health of the lakes.”
The news article highlights the IJC’s biennial report on the quality of water in the Great Lakes. “The good news, the report says, is that chemical levels in the lakes are way down, and that non-native fish species haven’t been brought into the lakes by ballast water since 2006. The bad news is that ice cover has shrunk drastically, numbers of diporeia — a shrimp-like invertebrate and food source for many fish — are down significantly, and toxic algae is back in the lakes.”
Among Pollack’s recommendations:
1- She says, “We need scientists for answers. We need highly educated people to take data from monitoring systems and understand the dynamics of the lakes, the climate and weather, and make better predictions.” Given the Harper government’s aversion to science, this support from Canada is not likely to be forthcoming without pressure.
2- She says that the IJC is tiny and depends on support from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Environment Canada, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. She says, “When those agencies get cut, we feel it, the lakes feel it.” Clearly, Harper has been cutting funding to the DFO and Environment Canada.
3- Policies are needed to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Pollack says, “There are consequences … look at the water levels and ice cover in the Great Lakes.” The Harper government continues to stall on serious action to address climate change instead favouring a massive expansion in the tar sands (production is expected to increase by 1.3 million barrels a day by 2018, to a total of about 5 million bpd).
Earlier this month, the Globe and Mail reported, “Two of Canada’s three seats on a key bilateral institution (the IJC) have been allowed to go vacant, raising questions about Ottawa’s commitment to the joint body that oversees waters shared with the United States.”
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow has taken the message of the need for a commons narrative to 12 cities on the Great Lakes in Canada and the US. She has travelled to Toronto, Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Kingston, Sarnia, Tiny Township, Owen Sound, London, Duluth, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids and Rochester. Barlow will be in Port Elgin on August 1 and Bayfield on September 28.
For more, please read:
UPDATE: Great Lakes tour highlighting climate change and historically low water levels
NEWS: Harper lets 2/3 of Canada’s IJC seats go vacant
UPDATE: Barlow’s tour to tackle critical Great Lakes issues
‘Our Great Lakes Commons: A People’s Plan to Protect the Great Lakes Forever’
