PODCAST: Troubled waters

Capital News Online reporter Catherine Kitts speaks with Derek Stack of Great Lakes United

The Great Lakes’ problems aren’t what they used to be. Fiesty fish and mystery pollutants have replaced garbage and smokestacks as their environmental ailments of the day.

Canada and the United States share control of the Great Lakes, so when the American government announced in February that it would put US$2.2 billion into revitalizing the lakes over the next five years, Capital News Online asked: What’s Canada doing?

As it turns out, the Canadian government isn’t rushing to match the American pledge. This year's federal budget allots US$7.76 million (C$8 million) per year for the cause.* Environmentalists say Canada's relative inaction may have serious consequences for water quality, species diversity, and the fishing industry.

Reporter Catherine Kitts learns more about Canada’s role in the Great Lakes debate during a conversation with Derek Stack, executive director of Great Lakes United, a coalition of Canadian and American groups that advocate for the health of these waters. 

Boats line the shore of Lake Ontario

* The research and interview for this story were conducted prior to the 2010 federal budget on March 4.

Front-page photo courtesy of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.

Music by Ian Drake.