The Great Lakes from space on February 19, 2014. (MODIS imagery posted by NASA)

INTRODUCTION TO THE GREAT LAKES PROTECTION ACT, 2015

Carolyn O’Neill Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change

February 17, 2016

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GREAT LAKES IN PROFILE

Page from Paddle-to-the-Sea by H.C. Holling (1941)

Great Lakes System Profile graphic, courtesy of Michigan Sea Grant, The Great Lakes Basin, map/poster

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HOME TO 98% OF ONTARIANS

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SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS

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PAST SUCCESSES

Transformer and adult sea lamprey mouths (Ministry of Natural Resources)

Love Canal (The Buffalo News)

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SHARED ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

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CUMULATIVE EFFECTS

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AGRICULTURAL PRESSURE

J Ciborowski and S. Mackey (SOLEC 2006)

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NUISANCE AND HARMFUL ALGAE

Lake Erie algae bloom visible from space, 2011 (NOAA) As seen from the air, a boat cuts through an algae bloom in Lake Erie, 2011

Ajax shoreline park fouled by algae, 2008 (Ministry of the Environment)

10 Stormy Weather, Georgian Bay by F.H. Varley, Group of Seven

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

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Rattlesnakes were abundant in the Niagara Gorge, even at the Cavern of the Winds, the ultimate tourist destination at the base of Horseshoe Falls, about 1840.

Source: Riley, John L. (2013) The Once and Future Great Lakes Country: An Ecological History. McGill-Queen’s University Press. Figure 12.

“VOICES OF NATURE PAST”

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Great Lakes Basin

764 565 km2

Great Britain

229,848 km²

Germany

357,021 km²

Texas

696,241 km²

GREAT AND LARGE

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INDIVIDUAL LAKE IDENTITY

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SHORELINE IDENTITY

Children play at Petticoat Creek Conservation Area, Lake Ontario, Pickering (Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation)

Hiking the Tobermory shoreline (Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation)

Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron (Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership

Corporation, J. Speed)

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ONTARIO’S GREAT LAKES STRATEGY AND ACT

THE GREAT LAKES PROTECTION ACT

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On November 3, 2015, the Great Lakes Protection Act, 2015 received Royal Assent. The

Great Lakes Protection Act, 2015 (the Act) reflects years of extensive partner and public

engagement and consultation.

Solving Great Lakes problems requires collaboration:

• The Act will align actions across Ontario ministries

(environmental, economic and social), with local

partners, stakeholders, the public, and other

governments and jurisdictions

• The Act recognizes that responding to issues

requires a variety of programs and decisions to

work together (e.g., stewardship, land use

decisions, approvals, etc.)

• The Act supports science, monitoring, and

transparent reporting to inform collaborative action

New tools for emerging Great Lakes problems:

• Recognizing the large and diverse geographic area, flexible new tools allow focused action on

specific places and issues that may arise over time

• Tools in the Act can be used to help build the resilience of the Lakes to cumulative impacts of

many stresses, including climate change

View from Toronto Islands, Lake Ontario. (Ministry of the Environment and Climate

Change)

• To protect and restore the ecological health of the

Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin

• To create opportunities for individuals and communities

to become involved in the protection and restoration of

the ecological health of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence

River Basin

And also to:

• Protect human health and well-being through the protection and restoration of water quality,

hydrological function and the ecological health of the Great Lakes, including through the

elimination or reduction of harmful pollutants

• Protect and restore watersheds, wetlands, beaches, shorelines and coastal areas

• Protect and restore the natural habitats and biodiversity

• Improve the capacity of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin to be resilient to the impacts of

climate change and to address the causes of climate change

• Support science and consider traditional ecological knowledge relating to stressors, and establish

and maintain monitoring and reporting programs with respect to environmental conditions of Basin

• Enrich the quality of life in communities through support of environmentally sustainable economic

opportunities and innovation and through environmentally sustainable use of natural resources

The purposes of the Act are:

PURPOSES

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Pukaskwa National Park, Lake Superior. (Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership

Corporation, Darren McChristie)

• Principles that will guide decisions under the Act include:

• An ecosystem approach including the consideration of

cumulative stresses and impacts

• A precautionary approach

• An adaptive management approach

• Collaboration and the sharing of data

• Government accountability to the public

• Recognition of First Nations and Métis communities with

a historic relationship with the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence

River Basin

VISION AND PRINCIPLES

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• The Act re-affirms it does not abrogate or derogate from the protection provided for existing Aboriginal

and treaty rights

• Aboriginal communities will be able to contribute traditional ecological knowledge for the purpose of

implementing the Act and where it is provided, it must be considered in decision making

(Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry)

• The Act advances the vision of healthy Great Lakes for a stronger Ontario – Great Lakes that are

drinkable, swimmable and fishable

• Members of the public are encouraged to participate in the protection of our Great Lakes: for

example, any person may make a request to the Minister to set a target (slide 9), or to direct the

development of a proposal for a geographically-focused initiative (slide 10).

GREAT LAKES GUARDIANS’ COUNCIL

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• Great Lakes Ministers, First Nations and Métis representatives, and municipal representatives will

be invited to participate in Council meetings

• Other invited partners will include representatives of conservation authorities, environmental groups,

industry, farmers, the recreation and tourism sectors and the science community

• Additional participants could also be invited (e.g. members of the Legislative Assembly,

representation from the federal government, etc.)

• The specific invitees may vary from meeting to meeting, depending on discussion topics or

geographic focus

• The Act establishes the Great Lakes Guardians’ Council, a forum

to help improve collaboration and coordination among Ontario’s

Great Lakes partners. Great Lakes Guardians’ Council meetings

will be held at least annually to:

• Discuss and provide input into priorities for action and

identify potential partnerships and sources of funding for

projects

• Share information and discuss targets, geographically-

focused initiatives and inter-jurisdictional Great Lakes

agreements

• Council meetings may be organized to discuss Basin-wide

issues, or those specific to a particular Great Lake or other

geographic area within the Basin

A vineyard’s drip irrigation system

(Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs)

STRATEGY, MONITORING AND REPORTING

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Strategy

• Ontario’s Great Lakes Strategy (released in 2012) serves as the

province’s roadmap for Great Lakes actions

• The Act requires the Minister to maintain Ontario’s Great Lakes

Strategy. The Strategy must set out:

• A summary of environmental conditions

• Goals and performance measures

• The principles that guide decisions under this Act

• A summary of actions taken to achieve the purposes of the

Act, and priorities for future action

• The Minister is required to review the Strategy every six years,

in consultation with Great Lakes Ministers and with all partners

that have an interest in protecting the Great Lakes

Monitoring and Reporting

• The Minister of the Environment and Climate Change is required to ensure that monitoring and

reporting programs are established and maintained, and publicly report on these programs

• Progress reports will be released every three years and tabled in the Legislature, and will include:

• Actions taken, progress against performance measures, targets established and progress

towards meeting them, monitoring results, information on geographically-focused initiatives

proposed or implemented, priorities for future action, and new/emerging threats

• The Act allows the Minister of the Environment and

Climate Change, in consultation with Great Lakes

Ministers, communities and others, to set targets and

create action plans:

• Requires the Minister of the Environment and

Climate Change to set at least one target to

support the reduction of algal blooms within two

years

• Provides the Minister of Natural Resources and

Forestry with authority to establish a target in

respect of preventing the net loss of wetlands

• Requires development of a plan outlining actions needed to achieve any target that is set

• The Minister may direct a public body – a municipality or local board, conservation authority, or

provincial agency – to provide information to assist the establishment of a target and the

determination of actions to achieve that target

• Ability to set clear targets and create action plans will help all partners work towards common

restoration and protection outcomes, and management of cumulative effects on the Great Lakes

TARGETS

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Humber River stormwater plume, Lake Ontario. (City of Toronto)

• The Act allows for the collaborative local development and implementation of geographically-focused

initiatives (GFIs) to address priority issues in a specific location

• Initiatives would be developed by a public body on the direction of the Minister, and approved by

Cabinet

• Initiatives must include a legal policy or policies, or a recommendation for a shoreline regulation

• Initiatives may also include a range of other policies such as:

• Monitoring and research related policies

• Action-oriented policies and commitments – such as programs to promote good stewardship,

education and outreach, and best management practices

• Initiatives must also include descriptions of:

• Initiatives will be subject to extensive consultation (see slide 11), including:

• Consultation under the Environmental Bill of Rights

• Engagement of First Nation and Métis communities who have a historic relationship with the area

• Engagement with public bodies and MPPs within the area, the scientific community, environmental

organizations, and industrial, agricultural, recreational and tourism sectors

• Draft initiatives will also be circulated to municipalities for comment and possible municipal resolution

GEOGRAPHICALLY-FOCUSED INITIATIVES

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• The applicable geographic area

• The area’s environmental conditions

• Issues/activities to be addressed

• Objectives of the initiative

• Guiding principles and priorities

• Methods to assess achievement of objectives

• A financing strategy

• Benefits and costs to the implementing body

• Impacts to those affected

• Benefit to Basin’s ecological health

VISUAL OVERVIEW OF GFI PROCESS

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STEP 1. PRE-CONSULTATION

Minister consults: • Other Great Lakes

Ministers • First Nations and

Métis communities • Local

municipalities • Local MPPs • Local conservation

authorities • Environmental,

science, industry, agriculture, recreation and tourism interests

• Potentially also Great Lakes Guardians’ Council

STEP 2. DEVELOPING PROPOSAL FOR GFI

Public body prepares proposal for GFI, setting out: • Area, issue and

objectives • Types of policies • Who would

develop GFI • Consultation plan

including plan for First Nation and Métis engagement

• Workplan and timing for GFI development

Proposal submitted to Minister

STEP 3. DEVELOPING GFI

• Public body undertakes consultation per proposal for GFI, considers existing studies and regulations relating to area

• Public body drafts GFI, submits to Minister

• Minister’s consultation on draft GFI, including EBR posting, municipal council comments (could also include public hearings)

STEP 4. IMPLEMENTATION Public bodies to implement policies, conform to policies as required • May include

development of shoreline regulation

After consulting with other Great Lakes Ministers and posting to

EBR for comment, Minister may approve (with or without

amendments)

Minister refers draft GFI (with or

without amendments) to Cabinet; Cabinet

decision

Ideas for GFI may come from: • Local

communities • Members of the

public (e.g. under section 30 of GLPA)

• First Nations and Métis communities

• Government commitment or agreement

• Scientific findings

• Expert advice • …etc.

Minister may respond by initiating GFI process

Decision on directing

development of a proposal for GFI

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• Under the Act, the following timelines are established:

• The first Great Lakes Guardians’ Council meeting will

occur within 1 year, with meetings at least annually

• At least one target related to reducing algae blooms in

all or part of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River

Basin will be established within two years

• Great Lakes Strategy progress reports will be

released at least once every three years

• A review of Ontario’s Great Lakes Strategy will be

launched before December 17, 2018, and every six

years thereafter

NEXT STEPS

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Kaministiquia River, Lake Superior. (Government of Ontario)

• To read the Act:

http://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/15g24

• For more information on our Great Lakes and

watersheds: http://www.ontario.ca/page/great-

lakes-and-watersheds

Carolyn O’Neill

Manager, Great Lakes Office

Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change

Carolyn.O’Neill@ontario.ca

416-314-7833

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

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Lake Ontario Student Conference. (Ministry of Environment and Climate Change)