Below are comments prepared by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) relating to EBR Registry Posting #011-6461, an Act Proposal Notice for a Great Lakes Protection Act.
For the record, the OFA believes that the proposed Great Lakes Protection Act is unnecessary given the number of legislative tools available that offer exactly the type of protection that is being sought. These tools include, but are not limited to the:
- Clean Water Act
- Drainage Act
- Endangered Species Act
- Environmental Protection Act
- Nutrient Management Act
- Ontario Water Resources Act
- Planning Act
The OFA sees merit in much of what is proposed in the “Great Lakes Strategy, 2012”, but would like to point out that it was prepared without any legislative framework. And a major goal of the “Great Lakes Strategy”, establishing a Great Lakes Guardian Council, does not require a legislative framework, either.