Thibeault blasts cancellation of Experimental Lakes program

NDP Northern Ontario Caucus Chair and Sudbury MP Glenn Thibeault denounced the Conservative government’s recent decision to cut the Freshwater Institute’s Experimental Lakes program in northern Ontario.

The Institute has contributed to pioneering research on the effects of pollutants on freshwater ecosystems for the past 50 years, he said in a press release. The Experimental Lakes Area program in northwestern Ontario has been instrumental in banning phosphorus in detergents and stopping acid rain. The federal government is axing its funding as part of budget cuts at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, according to media reports.

“The closure of the Experimental Lakes program makes no sense from an environmental or a fiscal perspective,” Thibeault said. “This important program is being cut for purely ideological reasons and is yet another part of Harper’s ongoing war on environmental monitoring.”

“Scientists at this research facility have made groundbreaking discoveries on the effects of pollutants, acid rain, freshwater aquaculture and hydroelectric dams,” Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus added. “To suggest that the closure of this program will not have a disastrous environmental and economic impact on northern Ontario is on par with suggesting that a root canal without anaesthesia will be painless.”

Canada’s Experimental Lakes Area is a unique facility for aquatic research located in northwestern Ontario. Since the announcement that the Institute's funding would be cut, experts have publicly criticized the move, citing the potential harms to the environment and to the health of Canadians, according to the news release.

“The closure also runs counter to public comments made by Conservative MP Greg Rickford, who previously acknowledged not only the vital work undertaken with the Experimental Lakes program, but also the significant impacts this work has on our region's environment and our economy,” Thibeault said.

Posted by Arron Pickard