The Federal Great Lakes Program
What is it?
The Federal Great Lakes Program provides the framework for working towards our vision of a "healthy, prosperous, and sustainable Great Lakes Basin ecosystem". It is a partnership of eight federal departments and agencies working together to ensure that the Government of Canada's commitments to the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement are met.
The program is led by Environment Canada and currently engages seven other federal departments and agencies. It provides the federal focal point for cooperation with both Ontario and the United States at the federal and state level.
The program was first launched 1989, as the Great Lakes Action Plan and renewed twice. In 2000, the Government of Canada announced the Great Lakes Basin 2020 initiative, focusing on healthy citizens, and aimed at restoring environmental quality in selected Areas of Concern within the Great Lakes Basin. Budget 2000 announced an additional $40 million over five years in federal funding to restore environmental quality in significantly degraded "Areas of Concern" identified in the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
The governments of Canada and Ontario have demonstrated their commitment to cleaning up and restoring the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem through the 2002 Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem (COA). There are four priorities for the COA:
•Areas of Concern
•Harmful Pollutants
•Lake-wide Management
•Monitoring and Information
Who is involved?
The Federal Great Lakes Program coordinates the actions of eight Canadian federal departments and agencies:
•Agriculture and Agri-Food
•Fisheries and Oceans
•Health
•Parks Canada
•Natural Resources
•Public Works and Government Services
•Transport
•Environment
Three Ontario provincial ministries:
•Environment
•Natural Resources
•Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Related agencies of the United States federal government and the eight Great Lakes States.
•EPA (Great Lakes)
What is being done?
The Great Lakes are cleaner today than they have been in the past fifty years. Since 1989, nearly $300 million in federal resources have been spent at restoring and protecting the Great Lakes Ecosystem. Some of the accomplishments include:
- Delisting of two Canadian Areas of Concern - Collingwood and Severn Sound
- Spanish Harbour returns to a state of natural recovery
To learn more on the work that has been done or to find about other Area's of Concern visit the Remedial Action Plans web site.
Recognizing the need to deal with the impact of toxic substances in the Great Lakes, Canada and the United States in 1997 signed the Great Lakes Binational Toxic Strategy. This is the most comprehensive effort by the two countries to achieve a commitment to eliminate toxic substances from the Great Lakes environment.
Learn more about the tremendous effort people in both Canada and the United States have put into cleaning up and protecting the Great Lakes. The new publication, "Our Great lakes: What is happening to them, what it means, and what you can do to help", is published by the governments of Canada and the United States, in collaboration with state and provincial governments, industry, Tribes and First Nations, and non-government organizations. It provides up-to-date information on how the lakes are doing, using six indicators. These indicators answer the questions that people most often ask, such as the safety of drinking and beach water. It also supplies practical advice on what we can all do to help keep our lakes cleaner and healthier.
Future Challenges
While the Government of Canada signed the Canada-Ontario Agreement in 2002, and is committed to its delivery, the eight departments which comprise the Canadian Federal Great Lakes Program have been looking to the future, with an aim to renew the Program in 2005.
The essence of the proposed next phase of the Federal Great Lakes Program is that new federal measures should be taken in light of rapidly growing populations, urban expansion and other challenges, and in recognizing the changes to the governance of water in Ontario. Renewed federal commitment will ensure that the Great Lakes Basin continues to serve as a healthy and sustainable home for Canadians, capable of sustaining healthy citizens, a prosperous economy, and a safe and healthy environment.
Specifically, the renewed Federal Great Lakes Program will leverage support from the province of Ontario, conservation authorities, municipalities, the private sector and non-government organizations to address the quality of water flowing into the Great Lakes. It will do this by striving to integrate bi-national lake-wide objectives under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement with watershed planning and decision-making.
