In 2004, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development ranked Canada 28th out of 30 G8 nations as the most sustainable, this notion competed thought to greener policies such as the Clean Air Act, the possible renewal of the 10-year contract of the Great Lakes Binational Toxic Strategy's toxic substance efforts in mediating contaminates from the joint US-Canada coalition. Of course the "10 years of Strategy Progress and Ambient Environmental Monitoring" of reducing Level 1 Toxic Substances such as PolyChlorinated Biphenyls, Mercury and Dioxin/Furnas along with 10 years worth of salaries, environmental remediation projects worth millions of dollars was placed in vain this very day.
Today, CBC reports that "16 Canadian lakes are slated to be officially but quietly "reclassified" as toxic dump sites for mines. The lakes include prime wilderness fishing lakes from B.C. to Newfoundland." The legal premise for this under the Fisheries Act interpreted as the tailings impoundment areas as justifiable mining effluent regulations that is exercisable under this precedence. What does this mean? It basically allocates harmful waste into protective marine outlets away from harmsway, despite where that allocation may be, even nature itself. This precedence places pollution-ridden corporations as an active weapon against the Canadian environment, for future generations.
So is the Canadian Environment in peril? The answer is yes.
Yours Truly,
-Waterloo University: Alex.C, PSCI-260
Canadian Gazette (2006). ”Clean Air Act.” Government of Canada, Vol. 140, No. 42: October 21, 2006, pg. 9‐34
CBC News, 2008
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/16/condemned-lakes.html
Köhler, N. (2008). “A Nation of Eco‐Hogs?” Maclean Magazine, Apr. 16, pg. 1
USEPA, Great Lakes Pollution Prevention and Toxics Reduction
http://www.epa.gov/bns/
USEPA, 10th Year GLBTS Anniversary
http://www.epa.gov/bns/10thann/wg_for_sf_05-23-07.pdf
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17 comments:
Can you change your signature font for the environment network forum, it's too big.
About my opinion on this Great Lakes Catastrophe's, I think its a crying shame that our Government is going to allow this to happen to our country, this will have ecology effects for untold generations, this is what we leave our kids ! Guess Canada wants to be polluted like United States, for the buck!! Yankies are taking our natural resourses, ie ;Oil , Water, timber,Minerals, Diamonds!! Our politicians have sold us to the yanks!! Canada should Nationalise Everything like Venezuela !!
Historically the people that were prepared to fight to make this county great would puke knowing that we were not prepared to fight to keep it great. Dont make me ashamed to be a CANADIAN Its time to organize, we need to let the people who do this kind of stuff know that they will pay dearly for their actions. And I dont mean in a court with a Judge who has personal intrest in seeing his corporate friend take the easy road. It is long past time and you all know it. wendigo244@hotmail.com.
Personally, I would like to see a report on what the pollutants are and the projected quanities. I would think that this would be manditory...and regulated by the Ministry of Natural Resources.If not then we are still in a kick-back third world thinking society where money wins over the environment.
WOW, this got me so angry, I've been away from my comp but after reading your SPAM on this site, it just flamed the issue.
I hope that the entire world petitions a stop with greenpeace. The world has a mutual interest in our water, we can sell it to places that need it. It is the single most important thing we all share on this planet, not diamonds and gold. If you buy these, you are also the problem!! America has already decided to sell off their share of the great lake waters. Gluttonous. American coporations must go, even if we suffer economically. IT is not the attitude of Canadian people, it is the corporation and government handshakes that continue without our consent and sometimes knowledge. The parliament needs a serious enema right now. All need to be replaced. Harper is a fool, beyond all others. I am sick of their voices and decisions for Canadians.
Wendigo,,,, try greenpeace to start. they would be on the ball about this for sure. they are globally exposed, join up. I did years ago, I write Prime Ministers and Presidents all the time, Japanese whaling, Columbia rainforests. You must have heard of them. If you signup, they petition many things and are successful in doing so, especially when people like me sign the petition. It adds up to global proportions. Watch their website, this will surely come up soon with them
This is disgusting. I've said a million times that the canadian government is nothing but a bunch of money hungry pigs, set to destroy the environment to make some extra cash. The people that are doing this to our lakes, including Harper, should be burried alive in mining waste (and feces) because they are completely useless, and extremely harmful, the exact OPPOSITE of the lakes that they are destroying. I would love to have 10 minutes with them in a closed off room. They don't deserve to live
Canada is long overdue for a revolution. Other countries have had them and they benefitted...we have become complacent sheep with no true leadership. Power to the people refers to Ontario Hydro. Where is our Mao, our Fidel our George Washington..and no Eddie Shack does not count. We deserve what we get my fellow Canadians. We have become too lazy and comfortable to resist what will eventually kill us. Harper's a bunny-eyed criminal under the control of Bush/Cheney/Rove. He will do what he's told. My amazement is how these idiots/fools can trash all these fresh water sources for the sake of mining companies! They don't call fresh water "Blue Gold" for nothing! Harper's nothing more than a shill that goes to the highest bidder (under the table of course.) All I want to know is what outhouse they dig these filthy politicians out from when they place them in office. We voted for him? Yea, right!
We won't dump garbage in a great big hole in the ground in Kirland Lake Ontario that the Mines dug. But we will let the mines dump deadly chemicals into pristine lakes destroying one of the last things truly great about this country. Our wildnerness. I may be disabled but let me know where you need me and my baseball bat and I'll be there busting someones knees because they need it. THIS IS A OUTRAGE. I lived in Sudbury look at the future enviorment Inco left there.
Ok Alex, I agree with you.. Once again the corporations take their money, the government takes their taxes, then the people and the land are left to attend to all the damage and destruction wreaked by the mining industry. Perhaps the profits should be used to repair and reclaim, better yet, do not damage the environment and then don't repair and reclaim. Alberta is is a prime example of a major disaster in the making, just wait for this to be announced. All the profits are in the corporated pockets by this time.
This absolutely disgusts me. Being a recent graduate from Environmental Restoration of Waterloo I can ensure that lake ecosystems with mine tailings CANNOT be restored! The lake ecosystems in the high countries are much too sensitive and have a very minimal tolerance to foreign pollution. Excess Copper, Lead, and Mercury are very difficult to stabilize and cannot be safely disposed of. What is very frustrating is the fact that we as Canadians know much better than this.
Where's that prick David Suzuki. I guess he would rather push carbon taxing on Canadians from a nice clean studio interview than strap his dope smokin butt to a tree to stop this kind of crap. Heaven forbid your new vehicle fails an emissions test and you have to spend thousands to fix it, but hey mine tailings with mercury and other heavy metals can be safely dumped into lakes for free by big business? Yeah can I make a donation!
Anyways, theres my opinion, lol nice spam.
The Harper Government is acting exactly like Mulroney, Chrétien and the rest of the thieves that get elected. They don't care about Canada, Canadians or anything else. They are all after power and money and they don't care how they get it. They lie to get elected, and they continue to lie to stay in power. Stephen BABYBUSH Harper, like most politicians in North America, will do anything to please their corporate buddies all the while pretending to care about Canada and the USA.
Oliver. You're an idiot. Alex you argue too factually to verify your points, although it does make sense. The FACT is that, this is our country. Not a board game. Do you know how many deer are going to be drinking from that new waste dump. As far as I'm concerned, this great new conservative government has just started. Just wait. Next year our water will be for sale once he gets his majority. Stephen Harper is a coward and is evil. He would sell anything we have. Just like Mulroney. Yeah, where's the accountability act Stephen?
This isnt Harpers fault. Research! This has been deemed as an acceptable as outlined by the liberals in 2002 as long as all poisons, such as cyanide are removed. .... 2 mines have been given the approval after a environmental assessment was completed. The lakes are sealed and water diverted not to pollute the rivers, etc.. The GLBTS that you mention is extremely expensive on taxpayers, I agree with you there.However, there are 100,000 lakes and these 2 new ones where deemed as suitable by the ministry of Fish& Oceans. New areas are created to replace the lost habitat.
I do agree with you, Canadian environment law is just a platter to market-liberals. I have said to many people, scientist working on the cycling of heavy metals in mining residues (known as mine tailings), I am very concerned about this piece of information. Mine tailings being dumped in lakes across Canada are part of our mining legacy and we are still trying to clean up the mess created several decades ago. Putting sulfide-rich tailings under water has the potential to release toxic heavy metals into the water column and destroy fish habitats. How can our government allow this? By the look of it, mining companies have strong lobbyists and they appear to be very good….. All is all, I am appalled by this decision and I an not proud of being a Canadian scientist today.
Hi TGF of PSCI-260 W,
I caught your post about Canadian lakes being turned into dumps and I
thought I'd drop you a line. My name is Thom Duggan and I'm one of the many Canadians working to end this backward plan. So, I just wanted to say hi and thank you, for one.
One of the ways we're going to be trying to keep Canadians involved
and informed on this issue is though the blogging circles in Canada.
I'd like it if you'd agree to join our "blogcorps". It's mostly just a
special list that we'd keep of bloggers, like yourself, who would like
updates and alerts about the issue from time to time (no coverage-obligation, of course). Some bloggers have signaled that they
want to get involved more deeply in the campaign, and that's great
too.
If you'd like some background information even now on the issue, I can send you a few things. Or if you'd like to get in touch with someone from the campaign, either nationally or in your general area, we'll be able to do that stuff, too (we have a webpage coming soon that will bring local citizens, bloggers, scientists, and activists together...more on that later).
We've been blown away by the response online; thanks for being a part of that. Would you like to receive updates from us on this in the future?
Thom Duggan
Coalition to Stop Lake Dumping
thom.duggan [at] gmail
Canada is CANADA! LAND OF FREEDOMS! Do whatever you want good or bad basically, just because you think it's wrong doesn't make it wrong, maybe it's the most sustainable deposit of mining waste?
Dodgeball FFA next week you coming?
My cottage up north is going to be poison you just watch, the water supply is going to be obviously tainted when you displace 1 million tonnes of mining waste underground, the rain will leech the heck out of it and into the aquifers.
Another walkerton eh alex?
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