MP to protect local shores

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This article was published 14/11/2017 (2895 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba MP Terry Duguid will captain a $25.7-million initiative to protect and improve water quality in Lake Winnipeg.

Today, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna will formally appoint Duguid (Winnipeg South) to helm the Lake Winnipeg Basin Program. It’s an extension of an initiative started by the former Harper government, but one Duguid promises will be “more results-oriented.”

“You will see action in 2018, and money will be allocated to a significant science effort,” he said.

The goal will be to reduce nutrient-loading of the Manitoba lake, including setting a “target initiative” for nutrient reduction to keep stakeholders on course. Nutrients feed the lake’s algae blooms, which foul beaches, impact drinking water and reduce oxygen levels that support aquatic life.

The initiative will also help stakeholders tap into the $20-billion green infrastructure fund that has already resulted in water and sewage treatment upgrades in Elie and West St. Paul, Duguid said.

“We are going to come to some conclusions relatively quickly. Time is running out for Lake Winnipeg,” he said.

Duguid likened the situation to what occurred with the Great Lakes decades ago.

“Lake Erie was once on the verge of being declared dead. A concerted effort in the 1960s and ’70s saved it,” he said.

The five-year funding plan comes from the $71-million freshwater protection program announced in the 2017 federal budget. The lion’s share of the funding is for the Great Lakes, as usual, but Lake Winnipeg will get more than one-third of the dollars, which pleases Duguid.

“This is a pretty major investment in Lake Winnipeg,” he said.

Lake Winnipeg is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. Its basin covers nearly one million square kilometres.

Duguid recalled cottaging with his parents at Sandy Hook on Lake Winnipeg. “We used to experience green slime (algae blooms) when you couldn’t swim even back then, over 30 years ago.”

Duguid’s background includes serving as City of Winnipeg councillor in charge of sewage and water treatment, and as a special adviser to federal and provincial governments on Lake Winnipeg.

“We’re going to be engaging with all of the stakeholders in the Lake Winnipeg basin starting with Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and having some focused consultation with Indigenous communities who live all around the lake.”

Consultations will begin immediately, with an all-day conference of stakeholders designed to strengthen basin-wide collaboration Wednesday at the Victoria Inn in Winnipeg.

“There is a feeling that previous efforts were not as co-ordinated, not as productive as they should be,” Duguid said.

The $25.7 million in funding was first announced by McKenna in July at FortWhyte Alive in Winnipeg.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca