Great Lakes Mayors, Collaborative meet with Minister Phillips

On February 12, 2019, Huron Kinloss Mayor Mitch Twolan, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative CEO John Dickert and Nicola Crawhall, of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Collaborative secretariat, met with Ontario Environment Minister Rod Phillips to discuss the role of mayors in Great Lakes protection and to talk about the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Collaborative (www.westbrookpa.com/glslcollab). Minister Phillips was joined by Ashlee Babcock, his policy advisor.

Nicola Crawhall provided an overview of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Collaborative and highlighted some new and innovative ideas on beaches management and a preventative approach to bacteriological contamination.

John Dickert introduced some of the Cities Initiative's main areas of activity, including microplastics, working with agriculture on reducing phosphorous entering Lake Erie, and urban flooding.

Minister Phillips recognized the importance of flood management and his government's interest in the 'core mandate' of conservation authorities to support municipalities in flood prevention and management. He also reiterated his government's commitment to real-time public reporting of combined sewer overflows, but acknowledged the cost to municipalities and said he was open to advice from mayors on different implementation options.