On the heels of a provincial announcement made last week that the Progressive Conservative government would be spending close to $600,000 on Lake Simcoe clean-up efforts, local MPs are calling on the federal Liberal government to stand behind their election promise of $40 million for restoration of the lake.
“Four weeks after Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP Doug Shipley, York-Simcoe MP Scot Davidson and I pledged to restore the Lake Simcoe Clean-Up fund as part of our ‘Real Plan for the Environment’ platform, local Liberal candidates stood on the shore of Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie just days before advanced polls opened in the federal election last fall and promised to do the same,” Barrie-Innisfil MP John Brassard said in a statement.
“Since that day, however, the Liberal government has been silent on Lake Simcoe and it appears the promise was nothing more than a desperate campaign stunt to gain votes with no intention to live up to the commitment," he added.
To see our story on the federal promise made in October, click here.
“The promise that the Trudeau government made to the approximately 450,000 people who live around Lake Simcoe and the watershed was nothing more than electioneering just two days before voting started last fall," Shipley said. "There is no commitment to Lake Simcoe and no money being provided for necessary programs to continue cleaning up the lake and ensuring the health and sustainability of the watershed for future generations."
A report released last week by the Ontario government indicates the health of Lake Simcoe is improving.
The 10-year report on Lake Simcoe shows the restoration of more than 15 kilometres of degraded shorelines, the planting of more than 55,000 trees and shrubs, and the creation and restoration of 120 hectares of wetland has resulted in "encouraging" signs of recovery.
Some of the positive signs include a 50 per cent reduction in phosphorus loads from sewage treatment plants entering the watershed, decreased amounts of algae, and the successful reproduction of cold-water fish, such as lake trout, lake whitefish and cisco.
For more details on how the provincial funding will be spent, click here.
An official from the Lake Simcoe Regional Conservation Authority confirmed this week that they have not yet been informed of any funding coming from the Liberal government for Lake Simcoe clean-up.
When reached for comment by BarrieToday, Chelsea Steacy, spokesperson for the federal Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Canada, said the ministry is committed to developing further protections and taking active steps in the clean-up of the Great Lakes, Lake Winnipeg, Lake Simcoe, and other large lakes.
“The details of these protections and actions are in development and will be more fully articulated at a later date,” said Steacy.
— With files from Shawn Gibson
