The Water Table

According to the Provincial Policy Statement, planning authorities “shall protect, improve or restore the quality and quantity of water”, including by “using the watershed as the ecologically meaningful scale for integrated and long-term planning”.

Given cumulative assaults on regional forests and wetlands as well as the deterioration in local water quality and aquatic and amphibian species, a valid question arises: Is Ontario’s current system of land use planning protecting our waters?    

Join us for presentations, followed by Q&A, from three respected advocates for water: Krystal-Anne Roussel of the Canadian Environmental Law Association; Kevin Thomason of the Grand River Environmental Network; and Ryan Bowie of the Chiefs of Ontario.

See the full agenda below.  Register via Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tRe8UnwrQEW4RPYtvvBFDA. 

Also, please note the availability of anyone, participating in the webinar or not, to sign our petition to the leaders of Ontario’s four main political parties asking that they consider seven recommendations to treat the province’s Land and Water as One. See the petition here. 

Sign in 6:28 – 6:34 

 6:35            Welcome and Introduction  —  Andrew McCammon, Ontario Headwaters institute

 6:45            Healthy Water & Sustainable Planning  —  Krystal-Anne Roussel, Canadian Environmental Law Association

Krystal-Anne received her law degree in June 2020 from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, where she took part in the uOttawa-Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic and pursued research interests in environmental law, animal law, and Indigenous laws and legal traditions. She is now part-time counsel at the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) and the Water Policy Coordinator for CELA’s Healthy Great Lakes program. Her work as Water Policy Coordinator touches on issues such as access to clean drinking water and effective implementation of the laws and policies that promote freshwater health in the Great Lakes – St Lawrence River Basin.

7:00              Land Use Planning & Protecting Water in Waterloo —  Kevin Thomason, Grand River Environmental Network

Kevin is a cleantech and sustainability specialist. He lends his international expertise in marketing and consulting to a wide range of community organizations, including Ontario Nature, Medecins Sans Frontieres, and Youth Challenge International. He has been involved in the Grand River Environmental Network for over a decade, helping the Region of Waterloo to establish what the OHI considers the best land use planning and water protection regime in Ontario.

7:15            First Nations Stewardship of Lands and Waters — Ryan Bowie, Chiefs of Ontario

Ryan Bowie holds an MA in Canadian and Indigenous Studies from Trent University and a PhD in Environmental Studies from York University. He is a Program Manager in the Environment Sector for the Chiefs of Ontario, where his work focuses on the Great Lakes region and First Nations involvement with the policies and agreements that manage Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health. He also leads engagement for the Chiefs of Ontario on the proposed Canada Water Agency and will describe how it is time to move from consultation to engagement.

 7:30             Discussion

8:00              End of Webinar