Innisfil is the latest municipality to call on the federal government to live up to its promises and do more to protect Lake Simcoe.
Council passed a resolution at its March 9 meeting calling on politicians in Ottawa to include funding for a Lake Simcoe Restoration Fund greater than previous financial support to protect the lake, beginning with the 2022 budget.
Before Wednesday’s meeting, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Georgina and East Gwillimbury had all passed the same motion.
Coun. Rob Nicol brought the motion in front of his colleagues, who said he understood that the federal government – like everyone else – had to shift their priorities during the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Lake Simcoe can’t wait much longer.
“There have been promises and pledges that have been made to Lake Simcoe that I feel have to be realized now,” he said. “Obviously the lake and the watershed don’t care what the reasons for the delays are.”
Those promises include commitments made in the run-up to each of the last two federal elections.
In 2019, both the Liberals and the Conservatives pledged $40 million and $30 million over five years, respectively for Lake Simcoe during the run-up to the federal election, however the Liberals we unable to live up to their commitment before their minority government was dissolved. Last year, the Liberals announced a $1 billion investment through a 10-year Freshwater Action Plan that highlights funding various waterways in Ontario, including Lake Simcoe.
“No funding, to my knowledge, has ever happened, unless it’s suddenly going to be happening this spring,” Nicol said.
The resolution supported by Innisfil councillors – and being considered by the councils of all the municipalities in the Lake Simcoe watershed and members of the Lake Simcoe Regional Conversation Authority (LSRCA) throughout the month of March – calls for the federal government to go above and beyond not only their previous election pledges but also the long-expired Lake Simcoe Clean-Up Fund.
Former York-Simcoe MP Peter Van Loan introduced the Lake Simcoe Clean-Up Fund in 2007, an initiative that provided $65 million in funding to reduce phosphorus levels, restore fish habitats and improve shorelines and retention ponds. But it expired in 2017 after its initial 10-year window and hasn’t been replaced since, despite promises from both the eventual governing and opposition parties during the past two election campaigns.
The motion goes further than just asking for money to be committed by highlighting the ways it could be spent. Council wants the federal government to support several initiatives, including shoreline mitigation, improving contaminated sites, infrastructure upgrades and planting 250,000 trees, all requests shared by the LSRCA and the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan.
Deputy Mayor Dan Davidson highlighted the commitment of 250,000 trees and wondered if they would be on top of the 50,000 trees the LSRCA were to plant to replace those removed in the construction of Friday Harbour. Coun. Alex Waters, who seconded the motion, was tasked with following up with the LSRCA.
The united front from the communities in the watershed and adjacent to the lake is essential in seeing change occur.
“I think we have an opportunity to band together with our neighbouring municipalities to help Lake Simcoe and the watershed starting this year,” Nicol said.
