Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Report - shows terrible NDP stewardship over the last eight years

The text of the final report of the Lake Winnipeg Stewardship Board reflects the abysmal performance of the NDP over the last eight years.

Consider the following statements:

1) "Algal blooms on Lake Winnipeg continue to increase in frequency, duration and intensity, an ominous sign that the lake is not well."
Basically, the NDP have done virtually nothing to help Lake Winnipeg in eight years and the problem has got much, much worse under their watch.

2) "governments in the watershed are not aware of the water quality problems facing Lake Winnipeg."
The NDP is not adequately aware of the issues and it has not done enough to ensure all municipal and other governments are adequately aware of the problems.

3) "There is a need for the provincial and federal governments to develop and implement a long-term collaborative science plan for Lake Winnipeg."
The report makes it very clear that there is not now such a long term plan to ensure adequate scientific understanding of the critical issues around Lake Winnipeg. The provincial government has been so negligent in this respect that we do not now have an adequate scientific base to know what proporation of the phosphorous going into Lake Winnipeg comes from the hog industry - with estimates varying widely - all the way from 1% of the phosphorous up to 7.5% of the phosphorous. The failure of the provincial government to be sure that there is an adequate scientific basis for making decisions is a reflection on the dismal performance of the NDP over the last eight years - they have not even made sure we have some of the critical basic data to make good decisions.

Below are links to previous posts on my blog which deal with Lake Winnipeg and the actions which are needed.

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006/10/why-we-need-better-stewardship-of-lake.html

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006/10/lake-winnipeg-and-lake-winnipeg.html

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006/11/manitoba-liberals-support-real-action.html

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006/12/phosphorous-and-hogs.html

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006/12/phosphorous-in-winnipegs-drinking.html

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006/12/lake-winnipeg-algal-blooms-phosphorous.html

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006/12/better-approaches-to-water-management.html

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006/11/algal-toxins-more-reasons-to-clean-up.html

http://www.manitobaliberals.ca/2006/11/phosphorous-in-our-waterways-and.html