The federal government says it’s making Canada’s largest investment ever in protecting the nation’s sources of fresh water — including the Great Lakes.
Commitments announced by the government during U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit and in the recent budget bring the federal government’s total investment to $750 million, said Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
“[It brings] us very close to our commitment to invest $1 billion … in this mandate. So we’re not quite there yet,” he told CBC News.
The government announced during Biden’s visit it will be spending $420 million to clean up and restore the Great Lakes. That money is part of the $750 million total.
During the 2021 election campaign, the Liberals committed to spending more than $1 billion over ten years to protect and restore freshwater bodies, including rivers, large lakes and the Great Lakes.
Last week’s budget earmarked $650 million over ten years for the Fraser River, the Mackenzie River, Lake Winnipeg, the Lake of the Woods, Lake Simcoe, the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes.
The money is intended to support monitoring, assessment and restoration work, to prevent the release of harmful chemicals and to reduce the frequency of algae blooms.
Canada’s freshwater sources face ongoing threats from plastic and toxic chemical pollution, algae blooms from excessive agricultural fertilizer runoff, and invasive species. In the Prairies, they’re threatened by shrinking glaciers and drought.
These threats affect plant and aquatic life and the communities that rely on these bodies of water for drinking water and recreation. Canada is home to 20 per cent of the planet’s supply of fresh water; Guilbeault said Canada hasn’t always lived up to the responsibility.
And he admits Canada needs to catch up to U.S. investments in freshwater source protection and restoration.
“[The Americans] have, in the past few years, made very significant investments early in the Great Lakes,” Guilbeault said. “We had made the commitment to invest more.”
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault speaks to media at the United Nations in New York on Sept. 21, 2022. ( THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
Michelle Woodhouse, program manager for water at Environmental Defence, agreed Canada needs to match U.S. efforts to protect the Great Lakes.
“Very fair to say we have been lagging behind,” she said, “It has been decades of chronic underfunding.”
According to calculations by environmental groups, the United States has invested $3.8 billion US in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative since 2010. By comparison, the Canadian government has allocated $44.84 million to the Great Lakes Protection Initiative. Even on a per capita basis, Canada is trailing.
Environmental groups and U.S. mayors applauded Canada’s funding commitment, despite the gap.
“Representing an international border community on the shoreline of the Great Lakes, I am thrilled to see this kind of cooperation and coordination between the U.S. and Canadian governments to enhance the health of the Great Lakes,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in a statement from the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.
The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) manages the nine watersheds that run through the Greater Toronto Area.
In 1987, the Toronto waterfront was named as one of 42 areas of concern by the International Joint Commission. The IJC is a bi-national commission established by Canada and the U.S. to regulate cross-border projects that affect water bodies along the border. The IJC identifies “areas of concern” as locations within the Great Lakes that have experienced high levels of environmental damage.
Since then, the TRCA has been working to clean up Lake Ontario. Although it has made progress, it still has to close beaches occasionally and deal with algae blooms and concerns about wildlife habitat. The TRCA also maintains restrictions on fish consumption.
Namrata Shrestha, a senior manager at the TRCA, said investments by the federal government are welcome.
“We do have a lot of issues with our Great Lake system, especially Lake Ontario,” Shrestha said. “There a lot of issues on water quality and its implications on not just the ecosystem per se … but also the cascade effect of it, of what that means for us as a community.”
A map of Canadian and U.S. areas of concern in the Great Lakes. (Environment and Climate Change Canada)
The Toronto waterfront is among 12 of 14 Canadian areas of concern that Environment and Climate Change Canada is promising to clean up by 2030. The department says that over the next decade, it will focus on the following contaminated or degraded areas:
Thunder Bay
Nipigon Bay
Peninsula Harbour
St. Mary’s River
St. Clair River
Detroit River
Niagara River
Hamilton Harbour
Toronto and region
Bay of Quinte
St Lawrence River
Three Canadian areas of concern have already been restored and delisted: Collingwood Harbour, Severn Sound and Wheatley Harbour.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
