The Province of Ontario passed the Lake Simcoe Protection Act in 2008 and the plan in 2009. I was the lead campaigner for environmental defence to get that legislation, with Rescue Lake Simcoe and Ontario Nature.
The main problem we have at Lake Simcoe is phosphorus pollution, so we have a target of reducing the annual phosphorus loads to the lake from, now, about 90 to 100 tonnes, to 44 tonnes a year. When you compare the two most recent 10-year periods, our phosphorus loads are actually going slightly up. This was 100% anticipated by the previous provincial government, in some study that they did at our request as part of multi-stakeholder work to analyze the impacts of growth development on the watershed, so really, it's stormwater and urban development that are driving that increase or the fact that we are not making substantial gains. The only reductions that are known have come from improvements to sewage treatment plants—and thank you very much, as I think there was federal funding for that too—but it's limited. We've picked the low-hanging fruit, so reducing phosphorus at this point is increasingly challenging.
I will just note that I also appreciate that the federal government made a $24-million contribution and really kick-started getting a phosphorus treatment plant on the Holland River built, and the province is now aiming to get that done in this administration.
There are other targets as well: Trying to achieve 40% high-quality natural cover is one of those. That also fits with the 30 by 30 target the federal government has. We have nowhere near 40% high-quality natural cover in the watershed. That's one of those really important indicators for health, and also, of course, it's important for climate change. We're making no progress on that.