Green Propserity is a joint effort by 23 of Ontario's leading environmental organizations to outline an action agenda for the province that we believe will help make Ontario a world leader in green practices and programs. For more information on the groups involved, click here.

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

Canadian Environmental Law Association

Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy

Citizens Environment Alliance

Community Power Fund

Conservation Council of Ontario

David Suzuki Foundation

Earthroots

Ecojustice

Environment North

Environmental Defence

Forest Ethics

Great Lakes United

Greenpeace

Local Food Plus

Ontario Nature

Ontario Smart Growth Network

Ontario Sustainable Energy Association

Pembina Institute

Sierra Club

Toronto Environmental Alliance

Wildlands League

World Wildlife Fund

	Ontario borders four of the five Great Lakes, which provide drinking water to millions of Ontarians.

Create a Great Lakes Protection Act to significantly strengthen Ontario’s leadership in restoring the environmental and economic health of the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes are vital to life in Ontario. A Great Lakes Protection Act would stimulate economic development, research, and innovation throughout Ontario with strategic investments in green infrastructure to help the province achieve numerous goals related to green jobs, greenhouse gas emission reductions, and air and water quality improvements.

An Act would add momentum to efforts to address the impacts of climate change, halt invasive species, curtail chemical discharges, and prohibit water transfers between separate lake basins.  It would also enhance protection of drinking water and speed up efforts to clean up contaminated sites. Ontario’s leadership and influence in upcoming discussions to renew the Canada-Ontario Agreement and Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement will be heightened by the bold step of passing a Great Lakes Protection Act.

A Great Lakes Protection Act would bring a coherent vision and direction to Ontario’s many Great Lakes initiatives and give life to the nine proposed strategies for protecting the lakes outlined in the government’s discussion paper Healthy Great Lakes, Strong Ontario.  An Act would also enshrine in legislation for the first time Ontario’s obligation to steward this tremendous natural asset and would help foster a culture of conservation, efficiency, and respect for the Great Lakes.

Further resources:

Green Cities, Great Lakes - Ecojustice

Flushing Out the Truth: Sewage dumping in Ontario - Ecojustice

H2Ontario: A Blueprint for a Comprehensive Water Conservation Strategy

The Economic Impact of Invasive Species - Great Lakes United

Great Lakes Blueprint

Partners in Pollution: An Assessment of Continuing Canadian and United States Contributions to Great Lakes Pollution - Environmental Defence

The Great Lakes Primer: A citizen's primer to protect the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River

Water Sustainability - CELA

Great Lakes Sewage Report Card - Ecojustice