It is remarkable that a Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development can undertake a study on the water quality of the Great Lakes Basin and yet never mention climate change or water quantity issues in its list of recommendations. The body of the Report regularly references the deleterious impact climate change is having on both the Great Lakes and ongoing efforts to remediate chronic environmental issues, but no recommendations deal with this important aspect. Furthermore, the Report regularly references lower water levels, but again, no recommendations deal with this issue either – as if to suggest that you can divorce water quality from water quantity, the effects of climate change and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events. If you have a narrow, limited focus, you will end up with a narrow, limited and ultimately quite useless list of recommendations.

Below is the list of paragraphs referencing climate change contained within this Report (emphasis added):

(50) Problems related to non-point source pollution in the Great Lakes are complicated by the introduction of new invasive species that are changing the food web, by changes in land use and other human interventions as well as by climate change. One witness referred to these factors as “game changers.”^[1]

(58) Finally, climate change also appears to be exacerbating the situation. Warming weather causes more evaporation from the lakes, including during winter months if there is not enough ice cover.^[2] Increased evaporation leads to lower water levels, particularly in the shallow nearshore areas, which warm faster, promoting algal growth. In addition, more dissolved phosphorus is entering waterways as a result of “more runoff with increased frequency of heavy rain and snowmelt periods in the changing climate.”^[3]

(85) There appear to be multiple causes of sustained low water levels in Lake Huron, along with Lake Michigan, which are lobes of the same lake. One cause is dredging of the St. Clair River in the 1950s and 1960s, and subsequent erosion in the same area, which has resulted in water flowing out of the system at a greater rate. Another cause of low water levels that a number of witnesses pointed to is climate change. Climate change is linked to increased runoff as a result of more frequent extreme storms, ^[4] but also has been causing less ice cover in winter, which increases evaporation and lowers water levels.

(90) The Great Lakes, however, are a dynamic system subject and reacting to change. The resurgence of algal blooms, despite continued lower phosphorus inputs, points to new forces that must be taken into account in planning remediation efforts. Non-point sources of phosphorus and other pollutants are now of significant concern. The Great Lakes system’s response to these inputs is complicated by other changes occurring in the system resulting from invasive species, climate change and the influence of a growing population in the region.

(101) However, some initiatives are underway to facilitate sharing best practices. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative has a website devoted to best practices as well as a similar Municipal Adaptation and Resiliency Service targeted at climate change adaptation techniques.

(131)  The fourth and final issue that witnesses raised as requiring preventive and adaptive management is climate change. Climate change is affecting wildlife species, both native and invasive, as well as human uses of the water, including for drinking, fishing, shipping and recreation.  Further, climate change is frustrating current efforts to improve water quality in the Great Lakes.

(132) Witnesses called both for mitigation and adaptation to climate change. In terms of mitigation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require further commitments not just from all levels of government, but on a global scale as well.  Adaptation is necessarily a more local goal.

(133)  Adapting to climate change involves multiple facets. For example, as one witness explained, “in warmer temperatures certain fish species will not be able to spawn and will die out. We need to be ahead of the game and looking out for those fish interests.” He suggested looking to the United States and learning from their habitat management practices, “because their temperatures today will be Canada’s temperatures tomorrow.” 

(134)  Another witness suggested that there is a need to develop the ability to retain water in Lake Huron — the only Canadian Great Lake for which there currently is no such ability — in order to better manage impacts of climate change.  As well, agricultural practices will have to adjust to changing weather patterns,  and communities and cities will need to build resilience to changing conditions.  Specifically, one witness called on the federal government to support communities in dealing with the increased flooding and droughts associated with climate change. 

(135)  More broadly, as stated by one witness: “every decision we make in terms of water will need to consider what will be happening in terms of climate change.”

(144)  Knowledge and information about what changes may come in the future is also important. For instance one witness mentioned the need for access to information on population growth scenarios and climate change predictions to “demonstrate what we need to manage and adapt to. Watershed and shoreline managers need to be able to access climate change data and information specific to the Great Lakes region, and that is not something we can do locally.”

Each paragraph is an indication of climate change as an aggravating factor in nearly every environmental issue plaguing the Great Lakes, from phosphorus leeching to low water levels to invasive species, all warning of the importance of adaptation and mitigation. For example, paragraph 135 is clear, “every decision we make in terms of water will need to consider what will be happening in terms of climate change.” Furthermore, Paragraphs 132, 134 and 144 call for government action on climate change or better access to climate change data. Again, inexplicably, the list of recommendations contains no mention of climate change at all.

The Standing Committee called this study to identify water quality issues in the Great Lakes Watershed and to make recommendations to the Government on how to remedy them, but the 9 recommendations agreed upon by the Conservative majority call for no substantive or additional action.

Six of the recommendations call for the Government to “continue to” do what very little is being done currently; two call on the Government to “consider ways” to do things that were addressed directly by witnesses in their testimony and considered by the Committee; and the last recommendation utilizes the weakest language possible in recommending “that the federal government manage the Great Lakes as an ecosystem in a more holistic way.”

This study has made it clear that climate change is a serious aggravating factor hindering our ability to address the myriad issues facing the Great Lakes. The importance of the largest freshwater system on earth cannot be understated as over 30 million Canadians and Americans depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water.  Despite the well-known impacts of climate change, the Government has recently cut Climate Change and Clean Air Programs by 70 percent (Report on Plans and Priorities, 2014-15). If we are to deal with the larger issue, we must admit that climate change is an exacerbating factor hindering our mitigation and adaptation efforts and seek to put forth recommendations that both reflect this and call the Government to action.

The Liberal Party calls on the Government to:

1-    Restore funding to the Climate Change and Clean Air Program.

2-    Work with international partners to enact a comprehensive climate change adaptation and mitigation plan.

3-    Develop robust regulation to address invasive species issues in the Great Lakes.

4-    Develop robust regulations to deal with the unacceptably high levels of phosphorous and other toxic chemicals in the Great Lakes.

5-    Restore funding to the Experimental Lakes Program.

6-    Strengthen and support the International Joint Commission to better equip them to deal with emerging climate change issues affecting their mandate.