• Protecting Water and Farmland in Simcoe County

Five incumbent mayors call for action to improve Lake Simcoe water quality

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In Agencies
Oct 5th, 2018
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Jeff Lehman

Jeff Lehman

From Lake Simcoe Watch

In response to Lake Simcoe Watch’s questionnaire, five incumbent mayors have said that their municipalities should work with the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) and the Government of Ontario to develop and implement a plan to reduce Lake Simcoe’s phosphorus loadings to 44 tonnes per year by 2026.

This phosphorus reduction would improve water quality in the lake, help prevent algae blooms and weed growth and keep our fisheries healthy.

The five incumbent mayors who have endorsed this target are: Jeff Lehman (Barrie), Rob Keffer (Bradford-West Gwillimbury), Margaret Quirk (Georgina), Harry Hughes (Oro-Medonte) and Pat Molloy (Uxbridge).

The great news is that these mayoralty candidates are not alone: 123 municipal election candidates in the Lake Simcoe watershed’s 17 municipalities have endorsed our call to reduce phosphorus loadings to 44 tonnes per year by 2026. We look forward to having many mayors and councillors we can work with to see this plan put into action!

Surprisingly, a number of incumbents who are members of the LSRCA’s board of directors, did not respond to our questionnaire. This includes Mayor Geoff Dawe (Aurora), Mayor Virginia Hackson (East Gwillimbury), Mayor John Grant (Brock), Regional Councillor Bobbie Drew (Scugog), Councillor Peter Silveira (Barrie), Councillor Peter Ferragine (Bradford-West Gwillimbury), Councillor Ken Ferdinands (Whitchurch-Stouffville), Councillor Avia Eek (King) and Councillor Shira Harrison-McIntyre (New Tecumseth).

To read the candidates’ complete responses to our questionnaire, please click here.

For background information on our questions, please click here:.

Please pass this message on to your friends and neighbours.

Lake Simcoe Watch is a joint initiative of AWARE Simcoe, the Innisfil District Association, the Lake Simcoe Association, the North Gwillimbury Forest Alliance, the South Lake Simcoe Naturalists, the STORM Coalition and the West Oro Ratepayers’ Association.

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