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Bill to Protect Great Lakes Water Passes Final Vote in Ontario Legislature

Posted on: Thursday, 31 May 2007, 21:00 CDT

By MICHAEL OLIVEIRA

TORONTO (CP) - A bill to protect Great Lakes water from being sold or shipped across the continent passed its final hurdle in the Ontario legislature Thursday, as all three parties voted unanimously to pass it into law.

Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay called it "a very important accomplishment," as Ontario has taken a step toward implementing a deal signed with Quebec and eight U.S. states to institute stronger protections for Great Lakes water.

The international agreement seeks to ban transfers of water outside the Great Lakes basin to protect against other jurisdictions trying to access the resource.

"People have to understand while we would appear to be awash in fresh water in this province, we need to conserve it," Ramsay said.

"We have many factors that are affecting the levels of water in our Great Lakes basin and other watersheds in this province, so we have to be very concerned. ... Preserving the Great Lakes means you ban diversions."

Ontario's bill also creates a new conservation charge for companies that draw a profit by tapping into the province's water supply.

Critics say the rate of $3.71 per million litres is insignificant and that corporations should be paying more, but Environment Minister Laurel Broten said the fees are a first for the province and a step forward.

"This is the very first time in Ontario's history that we even have the power to charge those who are heavy consumers of our drinking water," she said.

"We put in place a regulatory regime to ... make sure we have a safe, clean and abundant supply of water."

Most environmental groups applauded the government for the bill, which they say is stronger than legislation being proposed in the United States.

"I think Ontario is moving in the right direction," said Lake Ontario Waterkeeper president Mark Mattson, adding that the government listened to advocacy groups before finalizing the bill.

"When it first came out it was weaker, and it was great to see a collection of grassroots environmental activists come together and really push the Ontario government to go further than originally planned.

"And I think it's a pretty good agreement."

It was also announced Thursday that the tap water in the Ontario legislature passed a followup test for lead contamination.

Tests were conducted in the 19th-century building after Ontario's chief drinking-water inspector recently ordered 36 communities to sample tap water in homes after problems were found in London, Ont.

The first test had turned up unacceptably high levels of lead - an embarrassment for the government because it showed water contamination is a widespread problem, said New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton.

"They've been trying to keep this off the public radar screen when it's a serious risk to health, and I think they've been caught," he said.

Source: Canadian Press

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