Minister's Speech

Speaking points prepared for:

The Honourable John Gerretsen
Minister of the Environment

Ontario Science Centre
Water Quality Report Event
April 20, 2009

Thank you Lesley. (Minister to be introduced by Lesley Lewis, CEO Ontario Science Centre)

Hello everyone.

It’s great to be able to join all of the students here today from Denlow Public School, and from Don Mills Collegiate.

Enjoyed seeing the fish our Denlow students worked on for this fishnet project … very impressive!

Also very interested in hearing about what they have been learning about the Great Lakes and protecting our water.

You’ve also been hearing about aquatic biodiversity from Dave Poirier, one of our Ministry of the Environment water experts …

Dave — along with a number of our scientists and water experts — are going to be here for the month of April demonstrating a number of things we do at the MOE to make sure people in Ontario have clean, safe water.

A lot of interesting things for you to see and do here … like that water testing that we just tried with Anna DeSellas — who also told you about our Lake Partner Program.

One of the great things about the Ontario Science Centre — it is a truly “hands-on” experience. 

This is a great way to learn about water quality and how important it is to our health and well-being.

We’re very fortunate here in Ontario … we can turn on a tap and we get clean, safe water to drink, to cook with and to bathe in.

And many of us know how great it feels to jump into a cool northern lake in the summertime, or go fishing on one of our thousands of freshwater lakes, rivers and streams.

That is an advantage that many people in the world just don’t have.

Access to clean, safe water is the very basis of our quality of life.

It is essential to life itself.

We need to do everything we can to protect and conserve our water resources.

It’s a big part of what we do at the Ministry of the Environment.

We need to know as much as we can about the quality of our water, the things that are affecting it like pollution and climate change and what we need to do to protect it.

Today, we’re releasing the Water Quality in Ontario 2008 Report.

This is the first Report of its kind.

What you saw earlier with Anna when we were testing water samples was very basic … the reality is there’s a great deal of indepth scientific monitoring that we do here in Ontario.

In fact, Ontario is a world leader science work related to protecting water.

Every year, we collect and analyze tens of thousands of samples, from water, from sediment … from fish and algae.

I want to thank all our partners who contribute so much to monitoring activities …. Conservation Authorities, Lake Associations who participate in the Lake Partner Program … volunteers from all across the province.

We need to be vigilant to restore and protect water quality in Ontario.

What we’ve learned from many years of scientific activities is also helping us understand the effects of climate change on our lakes and rivers.

Adaptation to climate change is a key priority.

The report is showing longer ice-free season in Lake of the Woods, information that will help us develop strategies to adapt to climate change.

Findings from the Water Quality in Ontario 2008 Report are going to help us base our actions on the best available science — identify emerging problems … improve existing programs to protect our water or, where needed, develop new ones.

Keeping all of our lakes healthy — especially our Great Lakes great is key to the prosperity of our province.

And these efforts require working with people and communities across Ontario.

Public involvement is vital — along with the important monitoring activities that will help us protect and conserve our water.

Continuing to work together is fundamental to keeping Ontario strong and successful in the years to come

Thank you.

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