Misleading statements on Lake Simcoe Act

Dear editor:

As you are aware, on July 6th, the Premier of Ontario announced the intention of the provincial government to introduce a Lake Simcoe Protection Act. It has come to the attention of the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) that, in response to the Premier's announcement, members of the Lake Simcoe Environmental Management Strategy (LSEMS) Working Group have been providing information to the media that, in our opinion, contains a number of inaccurate and misleading statements.

As members of the Working Group that committed to the agreed upon process in good faith and, having invested over 100 hours in Working Group discussions, we do not feel that we can allow this matter to pass by without remark. BILD would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight.

The Lake Simcoe Act would be developed and implemented in cooperation with municipalities, conservation authorities, local residents, cottagers, farmers, environment groups, developers, First Nations and the tourism industry.

The act would build on the good science and planning work already done by the province, municipalities, conservation authority and community groups: Inter-Governmental Action Plan, Assimilative Capacity Study and Lake Simcoe Environmental Management Strategy.

Beyond the factual inaccuracies, BILD takes exception to, and is disappointed with, the overall tone of the communications of Ladies of the Lake and the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition. Although we agree that more can be accomplished for Lake Simcoe and its watershed with the investment of additional resources, the Working Group acknowledges in the Report that, despite limited resources, numerous dedicated people have accomplished much for Lake Simcoe and the watershed through the LSEMS partnership, of which the LSRCA has played a crucial role.

We are encouraged that the provincial government has focused increased attention on Lake Simcoe of late, but believe that the most pressing current issue is the lack of resources necessary to address the problems, not a lack of government oversight and/or approvals processes.

BILD appreciates the opportunity to participate in this exercise and welcomes your response to the foregoing. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact the undersigned. Additionally, BILD representatives will be in attendance at the next meeting of the LSEMS Steering Committee scheduled to be held in September.

Marvin Geist Member of the LSEMS

Working Group

Jessica Annis Alternate member of the LSEMS Working Group