Strange way to honour World Wetlands Day

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This article was published 08/02/2018 (2998 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The commemoration last Friday of World Wetlands Day seemed hypocritical and embarrassing, coming only one day after the Canadian government announced it was cancelling a fund-matching program for preserving wetlands.

Why did they cancel it? The official Opposition figures the Liberals scrapped the program for partisan reasons, because the program was initiated by the Harper Conservatives.

Environment Canada didn’t offer an explanation on Thursday, when it announced new applications would not be accepted for the National Wetland Conservation Fund.

Often called marshes or swamps, wetlands are biologically diverse ecosystems that support a marvelously wide array of plant and animal life.

To know wetlands is to respect them.

The decision to end the funding shocked and disappointed Manitoba conservation groups and everyone who understands the crucial ecological importance of these areas.

It’s like wetlands are nature’s medicine for ecological illnesses inflicted by humans.

They help protect lakes, including Lake Winnipeg, by acting as a buffer zone for runoff water, removing pathogens and pollution-causing nutrients before they reach the lakes.

They help a flood-prone province, such as Manitoba, by slowing the flow of running water, easing the destructive force of floodwater downstream.

They protect stream banks from erosion by reinforcing soils with root systems.

And they’re home to a wide array of migratory birds, other animals and vegetation, such as shrubs and grasses. As only one example of exceptional wetland plants, look at the common cattail. In knowledgeable hands, cattails can provide several different food products, medicinal poultices for cuts and stings, leaves that can be woven into baskets and mats and dried seed heads that can be dipped into melted animal fat and used as torches.

Despite their usefulness, wetlands are commonly sacrificed for more immediate financial interests, such as urban development and the expansion of farmland.

Such commercial initiatives are often resisted by conservation groups that try to protect and reclaim wetlands, educating property owners and even compensating them for preserving part of their property.

This effort was effectively supported by the federal fund that was cut last week by the Liberals. Commendably, it was a cost-matching program, so conservationists had to show serious intent by also raising money from other sources.

They said the federal program helped them attract donors who liked seeing their donation multiplied by matching funds.

As only one example of the fund’s effectiveness, Ducks Unlimited Canada has restored nine sites in southwestern Manitoba, comprising 358 acres of wetland and 871 acres of surrounding grass that prevents drainage.

It seems too good an initiative to stop without explanation.

Robert Sopuck, a Conservative MP from the Dauphin area, spoke on the issue in question period on Tuesday, saying, “Conservation groups across Canada are outraged by what the minister did and now know that these Liberals are phoney environmentalists.”

In an interview with the Free Press on Tuesday, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said the government remains committed to funding wetland development and there are other funding programs available, such as the green infrastructure plan.

But she declined to explain why her government is wrapping up this important fund-matching program.

If the Liberals are as green as Ms. McKenna claims, she should welcome the opportunity to outline specific details of other funding programs that will continue to protect and enhance wetlands at the same successful level as the program that’s being discontinued.

The wetlands are a biodiversity treasure that should be valued, not diminished.