GLIN==> Canadian mayors call on Canadian federal party leaders to protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence

["List Manager" <adminpst@great-lakes.net>]

Canadian mayors call on Canadian federal party leaders to protect the Great 
Lakes and St. Lawrence
Sep 22nd, 2008 2:14 PM
Canadian mayors call on Canadian federal party leaders to protect the Great 
Lakes and St. Lawrence

Presidential candidates in the United States have already raised the Great 
Lakes as national election issue

Toronto, Ontario, September 22, 2008 - Mayors representing over 7 million 
Canadians in Ontario and Quebec issued a letter today calling on the five 
federal political leaders in the Canadian election to publicly declare their 
proposals for protecting the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

"Canadian municipalities are spending over $4 billion a year on Great Lakes 
and St. Lawrence protection," said Thunder Bay Mayor Lynn Peterson, chair of 
the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative. "Given the national and 
international importance of this massive fresh water resource, it is time we 
have a substantial commitment from our federal government."

Canadian members of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative 
issued the letter a day after presidential candidates in the United States 
raised the importance of Great Lakes protection in their federal election 
campaign.

"We are encouraged that, through the activities of the Great Lakes and St. 
Lawrence Cities Initiative and other organizations, both U.S. presidential 
candidates are acknowledging the critical importance of protecting this 
vital resource," said Toronto Mayor David Miller. "Senator Barack Obama has 
come forward with his proposal and Senator John McCain has made known his 
concern for the future of the Great Lakes.  It is time our federal party 
leaders stepped up and made their voices heard."

A report by the Washington-based Brookings Institution concluded that 
investment in the Great Lakes would result in a 200% return on investment, 
and would serve as an economic catalyst to an area hard hit by the downturn 
in the manufacturing sector.

"The protection of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River is essential 
to the economic wellbeing of Ontario and Quebec and in our relationship with 
the U.S.," said Denis Lapointe, Mayor of Salaberry-deValleyfield and board 
director of the Cities Initiative. "It is a matter of federal importance."

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative is a bi-national 
coalition of 60 mayors that works actively to advance the protection, 
restoration and promotion of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basin. 
For more information, please visit www.glslcities.org.

-30-

For more information, please contact:

Nicola Crawhall
Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative
Tel: 416-463-4938
Cell: 416-432-2739
Email: nicola.crawhall@sympatico.ca


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