Canada Signs Newly Amended Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

Ottawa, ON – Recently, the Honourable Peter Kent, Minister of the Environment, and Environmental Protections Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson signed the newly amended Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

This agreement was first signed in 1972 and was last amended in 1987. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement is a model of binational cooperation which protects the world’s largest surface freshwater system and the health and economy of the surrounding communities.

“The Great Lakes are a vital part of the lives of many Canadians and Americans and as such we must do what we can to protect these important bodies of water,” said Larry Miller, MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound. “I am very pleased that Canada and the United States have signed this amended agreement to further the protection of the Great Lakes.”

The revised agreement will contain new provisions that address aquatic invasive species, habitat degradation and the effects of climate change while supporting continued work on existing threats to people’s health and the environment in the Great Lakes Basin.

For more information on the signing of the revised Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement please visit www.ec.gc.ca.

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