NDP tables motion to protect health of Lake Simcoe ahead of World Water Day
A motion presented at Queen's Park aimed at safeguarding Lake Simcoe falls on the eve of recognition of World Water Day.
Sandy Shaw, the NDP Official Opposition Critic for Environment, Conservation, and Parks, held a press conference alongside Claire Malcolmson, the executive director of the rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, urging the government to swiftly implement a protection strategy to address the deteriorating health of the lake.
According to Shaw, Lake Simcoe accumulates significant amounts of stormwater runoff, impacting the water's health. Phosphorus in the runoff creates algae, which she said throws the entire system off balance.
Shaw's motion outlines three key steps: enforcing the 2008 Lake Simcoe Protection Act to reduce phosphorus loads to 44 tonnes annually by 2030, assessing the environmental impacts of the proposed Bradford Bypass and associated urban sprawl on water quality, and initiating construction of a phosphorus reduction facility by year-end.
The conservative government has committed to funding the plant; however, Malcolmson said that's only fixing one to two per cent of the problem.
"We do know that development in the watershed is projected to be really heavy in the decades ahead. And we know that sprawl, the movement of earth, and the loss of farmlands and sometimes wetlands and forests... all of those things negatively impact the lake. So we need to look at the whole picture," said Malcolmson.
Malcolmson also raised concerns about rising salt levels in Lake Simcoe, which, combined with high phosphorus levels and warming water temperatures, exacerbate algae outbreaks. She urged the province to tackle this issue alongside phosphorus reduction efforts.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.