Chatham-Kent’s mayor is sounding the alarm of the health of the Great Lakes.
With word the Trump administration plans to slash funding to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative by 97%, Randy Hope says the lakes are under threat.
Hope, who is on the Board of Directors of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, says our source of fresh water is already facing issues with invasive species such as the Asian Carp, pollution, not to mention the health of area residents.
“It could destroy so much, not only recreation, but the water we all draw from,” Hope says. “Everybody around the Great Lakes Basin draws from the Great Lakes, and by destroying that it could hurt and damage a lot of people.”
The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change says it hopes to continue working with all levels of government both in Canad and the US to protect the Great Lakes, which it says is an economic engine for the province.
“We remain focused on undertaking actions that help protect and restore these important watersheds through Ontario’s Great Lakes Strategy and the recent passage of the Great Lakes Protection Act,” Senior Regional Communications Advisor Teresa Lannin says. “It is vital to Ontarians – 99% of whom live in the watersheds of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River – that the health of this iconic, economically essential ecosystem be looked after.”
The Trump administration’s cuts to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative would gut annual funding from $300 million to $10 million.
