Sewage Overflows And Canals

Two comments from news stories.

It is sad how out of touch our Mayor is to reality and to what is truly important in our lives today! I trust that Council and the Senior levels take note as well as the citizens of Windsor when they consider another one of Eddie's diversionary VISIONS!

Eddie Francis:

• "While ignoring the canal project, council approved adding a $60-million item for a waterfront underground retention treatment basin to end sewage overflows into the Detroit River, an item for which the city was already in the process of seeking senior government funding.
  
  "Other cities are putting forward massive projects with vision. Today, here, instead of such vision, we have a receptor sewer project ... how does that diversify our economy," Francis said after the meeting."

Great Lakes mayors present action plan to Queen's Park
Posted By MAGGIE RIOPELLE/Tribune Staff

• TORONTO — Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey is among Ontario mayors looking to protect the Great Lakes and who Tuesday presented a five-point action plan to the provincial government.
  
  The first ever Great Lakes summit in Toronto was hosted by the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative and the Ontario government and gave Ontario mayors an opportunity to present their plan, At the Shoreline: A Mayors' Collaborative Action Plan to Protect the Great Lakes.
  
  "We in the city of Port Colborne are very fortunate to live on the sandy shores of Lake Erie," said Badawey in a news release. "Protecting the Great Lakes is essential to attract people to our community, whether to live, work or play.
  
  "Proper investment and attention to improve beaches and shoreline areas, water and wastewater systems and storm water separation promotes healthy lifestyles, a vibrant local economy and a sustainable community."
  
  As part of the plan, Ontario Great Lakes mayors called for a new approach involving all three levels of government to tackle problems of explosive algae growth, beach closures, and untreated sewage and storm water entering the lakes.
  
  The report calls for a tripartite table to co-ordinate protection efforts and investments. The mayors also called for an economic study to build a strong business case for Great Lakes investments by the government.
  
  "The City of Port Colborne is extremely fortunate to be part of an organization such as the Mayor's Great Lakes — St. Lawrence Initiative," said Badawey. "Working shoulder to shoulder with all mayors that have the privilege of being a waterfront community is critical to moving forward action plans relative to environmental and economic objectives."
  
  Badawey said it is vital that "we must renew and leverage the Great Lakes by improving both the supply and the quality of water" while also "supporting business development and research opportunities."
  
  There must also be an "innovation strategy" in place, he said, that will "fuel research, development and commercialization activity in the Great Lakes economic region."
  
  As a former director and president of the Ontario Great Lakes Renewal Foundation, Niagara Region Chair Peter Partington advocated for protection while at the summit.
  
  "We in Niagara have always considered ourselves blessed to be, literally, surrounded by water from the Great Lakes," said Partington.
  
  "We have already taken significant strides to protect these valuable resources, including identifying combined sewer overflows as a priority item in our recent infrastructure stimulus applications to the federal and provincial governments."
  
  The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative is an organization of more than 60 mayors and other local officials in Canada and the U.S. advocating for the protection, restoration and promotion of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
  
  “I believe strongly that initiatives like today's summit and other similar ventures are the building blocks for success and I'm committed to providing whatever regional resources are required to see this plan implemented; our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren depend on it," Partington said.

UPDATE

Guess who is on the Board of Directors of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative:

http://www.glslcities.org/steering.htm