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The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) review
The IJC has now released a report synthesizing the comments of more than 4000 people and organizations who took part in a public consultation on the upcoming review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. Use the link in the sidebar to view the report in HTML or PDF, or order a printed version.
In June 2005, the governments of Canada and the United States asked the International Joint Commission (IJC) to seek the public's views on how well the GLWQA has worked so far and how effective it has been. In response, the IJC held public meetings in 14 Great Lakes and St. Lawrence cities and an innovative Web Dialogue in October and November 2005; it also received submissions by hand, mail, fax, phone, e-mail and online.
The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the United States expresses the commitment of each country to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem.
First signed in 1972 by Pierre Trudeau and Richard Nixon, it was last revised in 1987.
Article X of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement directs the governments to review the operation and effectiveness of this historic agreement following every third IJC biennial report. The IJC's 12th Biennial Report, released in 2004, triggered this review. In its September 20, 2003 public declaration, the IJC pledged to assist the governments and engage and facilitate public participation in the review. The governments sent the IJC letters of reference in June 2005 asking it to seek the public's views on the upcoming review.
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