Great Lakes Need Great Friends

May 22, 7:00 pm

Queen's University, Dupuis Auditorium

Free Event

Speakers:
        – Bob Lovelace
        – Mark Mattson, Lake Ontario Waterkeepers
        – Maude Barlow, The Council of Canadians

The Great Lakes of North America form the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world, holding more than 20 per cent of the world's surface freshwater and 95 per cent of North America's. They provide life and livelihood to more than 40 million people and are the economic centre at the heart of the continent. Yet the Great Lakes of North America are in serious trouble. Multipoint pollution, climate change, over-extraction, invasive species, and wetland loss are all taking their toll on the watershed.

With a patchwork of limited government protection that is hampered by inadequate funding and differing political priorities, the Lakes urgently need people to join together to forge a new future for them, one that will ensure the Lakes will thrive for generations to come. To help forge links and build relationships in communities surrounding the Great Lakes' waters, the Council of Canadians has launched the "Great Lakes Need Great Friends" tour.

Visiting eight Canadian cities, and with allied groups, several U.S. cities the "Great Lakes Needs Great Friends" Tour will help:

• Foster connections along the Great Lakes by making the links between current fights against threats such as fracking, bottled water withdrawals, invasive species, and nuclear waste storage and shipments.
• Cultivate a Great Lakes stewardship by encouraging people to recognize they not only have a right, but a responsibility to protect the Great Lakes' waters.
• Invite community involvement and encourage inspiring actions that will help shift the current market economy priorities that govern the Great Lakes to priorities based on commons and public trust principles.