Our submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development highlights the importance of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s existing regional water programs, and how community-based monitoring data can improve decision-making and resource allocation.

Our submission on the establishment of a Canada Water Agency emphasizes the need to strengthen existing federal programs, laws and regulations for freshwater protection. We also propose that the new agency be Indigenous-led, creating opportunities to strengthen water governance by recognizing Indigenous jurisdiction and supporting Indigenous knowledge systems.

Our submission proposed nutrient targets for Lake Winnipeg highlights the need for evidence-based, ecologically meaningful targets which can be linked to concrete timelines, and integrated with new regulatory and incentive-based action, and recommends the proposed regulation be redrafted to achieve measurable results.

Presenting to the Standing Policy Committee on Water and Waste, Riverbank Management and the Environment, we urge councillors to approve funding for interim phosphorus removal, accelerate the implementation timeline and ensure phosphorus removal is optimized in the design and construction of the new biosolids facility.

Jointly created by LWF and the Lake Winnipeg Indigenous Collective, this position paper offers five recommendations for the federal government to achieve real impact for Lake Winnipeg by strengthening established programs, acting on robust evidence, enforcing existing laws and regulations, and following through on long-standing commitments.

Presenting to the Standing Policy Committee on Water and Waste, Riverbank Management and the Environment, we remind councillors of the need to reserve biosolids capacity for the effective implementation on interim phosphorus removal at the north end sewage treatment plant in order to protect Lake Winnipeg.

Together with the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Lake Winnipeg Indigenous Collective, we stress the need for continued urgency to meet previous commitments and identify two opportunities to reduce phosphorus levels in Winnipeg north end sewage treatment plant effluent well before long-term upgrades are slated to be complete.

In response to proposed issues, goals and performance indicators of a new provincial water management strategy, we recommend: increasing Indigenous representation at decision-making tables; prioritizing phosphorus reduction to address the eutrophication of Lake Winnipeg; and using community-based monitoring data to support provincial water decision-making.

In response to increased investments in infrastructure through the Manitoba Restart Program, our letter to Premier Pallister advocates for the immediate prioritization of upgrades to Winnipeg’s North End Water Pollution Control Centre.

Our submission to the International Joint Commission supports proposed phosphorus objectives for the Red River, based on a robust body of research demonstrating that phosphorus drives the growth of harmful algal blooms in freshwater ecosystems. We do not support proposed nitrogen objectives, since reducing nitrogen loading will have no impact in reducing algal blooms in Lake Winnipeg.