Mr. Speaker, when the Canada-Ontario Great Lakes agreement was signed in 1994, Canada and Ontario were to share responsibility on the Canadian side to restore, protect and sustain the world's largest freshwater ecosystem, namely the Great Lakes Basin.
Working together the governments were first, to continue jointly to restore degraded areas as identified by the International Joint Commission. One must say that according to a 1999 progress report by Environment Canada, only 60% of the actions necessary to restore the areas of concern has been implemented.
Second, the governments were also to prevent and control pollution with an emphasis on the virtual elimination of persistent toxic substances and a significant reduction of other pollutants. The same 1999 Environment Canada progress report stated that considerable progress had been made in reducing toxins within the Great Lakes but the report did not quantify in percentage terms the achievements made.
Finally the governments were to conserve and protect human and ecosystem health, including people, wildlife, land, air and water. The same 1999 progress report stated:
Considerable advances have been made toward achieving targets related to the conservation of habitat, the protection of ecologically valuable lands, and the management of land and water.
However the specifics of the progress are vague and the report calls for the development of new policies and science.
In July 2000, the 1994 Canada-Ontario agreement lapsed. It is worth noting that a recent report by a non-government organization located in southwestern Ontario called Great Lakes United commented that “decisions are made without takinginto account the cumulative and long term impact” of industrial and agricultural activities on the Great Lakes Basin.
In view of the fact that the Canada-Ontario agreement is meant to tackle these problems, a new agreement is needed. After lengthy negotiations, the 2001 Canada-Ontario agreement was signed in March of this year, yet the details have not been made public.
Considering the importance of this freshwater ecosystem, can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment or her representative inform the public and the House as to: first the objectives and details of the new agreement; second, the allocation of funds from both the provincial and federal governments; third, whether we can expect the new agreement to continue to build upon the objectives of the 1994 agreement; and finally the duration of the new agreement?