Contact: Derek Stack, Great Lakes United, (613) 797-9532
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ontarians expect aggressive action to protect the Great
Lakes: New poll
A recent poll released by Great Lakes United shows that Ontarians see
the Lakes as vital to our economy and way of life, with nine out of ten saying
they are concerned with sewage and toxic pollution contaminating the food
chain.
TORONTO, October 2 – While Ontarians may
be disheartened at the prospect of solving global warming, a majority feel that
improving the health of Canada’s Great Lakes is an attainable goal that
will help shield us from the impacts of global warming, like heat and drought.
Great Lakes United released a poll today that explores
how Ontarians view the condition of the Great Lakes.
With nine out of ten people describing the Great Lakes as vital to our survival
and quality of life, Ontarians agree we all have a personal responsibility to
leave the Great Lakes in good health for our
children.
“Millions of Ontarians and their kids, drink,
bathe, and eat food grown with Great Lakes
water. They identify with the Lakes and know them as a natural wonder of the
world,” said Derek Stack,
Executive Director of Great Lakes United. “They know that the cost of
healing the ecosystem isn’t getting any cheaper, and they want their
children to swim and play on clean beaches and in uncontaminated water.”
With a majority of Ontarians depending on the Great Lakes for daily drinking water, sewage overflow and
toxic pollution in the food chain were overwhelmingly the leading concerns.
Eight in ten (82%) of respondents are very concerned about sewage pollution and
just over three in four (78%) are very concerned about toxic pollution to the
food chain.
“Ontarians are looking to our federal and
provincial governments for action”, said Stack.
Currently Ontario
cities pump billions of litres of
untreated sewage into the Great Lakes every
year and commitments to clean up the province’s twelve most toxic
hotspots (also known as Areas of Concern) have been ignored for decades.
“Ten of Ontario’s twelve internationally
recognized toxic hotspots – places like the Niagara River, Hamilton Harbour,
and Nipigon Bay – are no cleaner today than 30 years ago,” said
Stack, adding, “Ontarians place high priority on funding to clean up
toxic pollution in our beaches, rivers and lakes.” Eight in ten (79%)
Ontarians say that they support of a federal investment of two billion dollars
a year to restore the health of the Lakes.
“There is a real opportunity here for the
federal government to capture the interests of urban communities around the Great Lakes,” said Stack.
Recently, Great Lakes United and five other leading
environmental groups published the Great
Lakes Blueprint, a set of priorities for restoring the health of the
Great Lakes.
Among the
recommendations, the report calls for the establishment of a federal model sewer
by-law, as well as a science-based standard for sewage treatment. The report
also calls for established timelines for the clean-up and delisting of
Canadian Areas of Concern.
For a complete list of recommendations, see the Great Lakes Blueprint online at
www.glu.org.
Great Lakes United is also co-hosting an Ontario
Environmental Priorities Debate on Wednesday, October 3 at the Isabel Bader
Theatre in Toronto.
The debate will span some of the most critical environmental issues of our
time, including the Great Lakes.
Contact:
Derek Stack
Executive Director
Great Lakes United
(613) 797-9532
Methodology:
McAllister Opinion Research conducted this poll by
telephone using random digit dial from June 26th to July 15th 2007 inclusive to
a random sample of Ontarians aged 18+ that is representative of age, gender and
region. A random sample of 1000 Ontarians would yield a margin of error of
±3.1%, 19 times out of 20. McAllister Opinion Research is an accredited
member of ESOMAR (esomar.org) the international organization for professional
researchers. The firm conducts the Environmental Monitor research
program, which has tracked Canadian environmental attitudes for over 20
years. McAllister clients include government, industry and charities.
Appendix: Questions and Responses
Thinking of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence, please say if you are very
concerned, somewhat, not very, or not at all concerned about the following
issues:
|
|
Very
|
Some what
|
Not very
|
Not at all
|
DK/NA
|
|
Untreated sewage entering the Great
Lakes
|
82
|
14
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
|
Contamination of the food chain by toxic pollution
such as mercury
|
78
|
18
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
|
Loss of wetlands and animal habitat
|
67
|
26
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
|
Global warming
|
64
|
26
|
5
|
4
|
1
|
|
Invasive aquatic species, like zebra mussels
|
56
|
30
|
9
|
4
|
2
|
|
Radioactivity and waste from nuclear power plants
near the Great Lakes
|
56
|
26
|
11
|
4
|
2
|
|
Overuse of water by industry
|
52
|
38
|
6
|
3
|
2
|
|
Piping Great Lakes water to communities outside of
the Great Lakes ecosystem
|
45
|
36
|
10
|
5
|
4
|
How well do
the following describe the Great Lakes to you?
Des this describe the Great Lakes very well,
somewhat, not very well or not at all?
|
|
Very Well
|
Some
what
|
Not very well
|
Not at all
|
DK/NA
|
|
Vital to our quality of life and survival
|
76
|
21
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
|
A national treasure
|
74
|
17
|
4
|
3
|
2
|
|
A place of beauty
|
72
|
23
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
|
Vital to our regional economy
|
71
|
22
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
|
Vulnerable
|
67
|
25
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
|
A legacy for our kids
|
63
|
21
|
10
|
5
|
2
|
|
A living ecosystem
|
63
|
25
|
6
|
2
|
4
|
|
A great place to be with family and friends
|
63
|
28
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
|
A major source of drinking water
|
60
|
21
|
7
|
5
|
7
|
|
A great place for fishing and recreation
|
45
|
34
|
10
|
6
|
5
|
|
Polluted
|
36
|
50
|
8
|
3
|
4
|
Some people want federal governments in Canada to invest a total of 2 billion dollars
per year over the next ten years to restore the health of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Others say that there are other
more important areas in which to this money. Do you favour or oppose spending 2
billion dollars per year for ten years to restore the health of the Great Lakes
and St. Lawrence River?
|
Favour
|
78
|
|
Strongly favour
|
43
|
|
Somewhat favour
|
35
|
|
Somewhat oppose
|
8
|
|
Strongly oppose
|
6
|
|
Oppose
|
15
|
|
[VOLUNTEERED] DK/NA
|
7
|
Please tell me if you agree or disagree with the
following statements:
|
|
Agree
|
Disagree
|
DK/NA
|
|
We all have a personal responsibility to leave the Great Lakes in good health for our children
|
99
|
1
|
*
|
|
Government spending to upgrade sewage and water
systems in our province will create new jobs
|
89
|
8
|
4
|
|
The Great Lakes
will help shield us from the impacts of global warming like HEAT and DROUGHT
|
72
|
20
|
8
|
|
What I do in my life
does not impact the health of the Great Lakes
|
36
|
62
|
2
|
|
Selling water from the
Great Lakes is a major economic opportunity for Canada
|
39
|
55
|
6
|
|
(S2) The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence are cleaner than they were 20
years ago
|
31
|
48
|
21
|
I am going to read a list of reasons to support
spending Canadian tax dollars to clean up the Great Lakes and St.
Lawrence River. Please tell me if you think each one is a
good reason or a poor reason to support spending money on a clean-up:
|
|
Very Good
|
Some what Good
|
Some what Poor
|
Very Poor
|
DK/NA
|
|
Over 10 million people in Ontario
and Quebec get their drinking water from the
Great Lakes every day
|
83
|
12
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
|
We should act now because problems in the Lakes will
cost us more to fix in the future.
|
77
|
19
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
|
The Great Lakes
represent one fifth of the world's fresh water supply
|
77
|
17
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
|
The health of the Great Lakes
is key to the health of Canadians
|
70
|
25
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
|
(S2) Whatever goes into the Great
Lakes ends up in the food chain and eventually in our bodies
|
72
|
19
|
6
|
2
|
2
|
|
Cities like Toronto
release billions of litres of untreated raw sewage into the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River
|
71
|
14
|
4
|
4
|
7
|
|
Per facility, Canadian industry emits four times
more chemicals than U.S.
polluters.
|
51
|
20
|
8
|
8
|
13
|
|
Aquatic invasive species are costing the Canadian
public hundreds of millions of dollars
|
46
|
30
|
10
|
4
|
9
|
###
Brent Gibson
Director,
Communications
Great Lakes United
613-867-9861
bgibson@glu.org | http://www.glu.org