While agriculture politicians talked about algae blooms in
Lake Erie and the need for farmers to curb phosphorous runoff, nobody said
anything about mandatory measures, Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal said
in a brief interview.
He met recently with his counterparts in Michigan and
Pennsylvania and they talked about the most recent International Joint
Commission report which urged more action to curb phosphorous runoff into the
Great Lakes, especially Lake Erie.
It is the shallowest and warmest and therefore most prone to
algae blooms, Leal said.
A goal was set this year to reduce phosphorous runoff into
Lake Erie by 40 per cent from 2014 levels.
Farming will be asked to share the
bulk of that burden.
He said Ontario’s farmers have been making progress, noting
that 30,000 farms now have completed Environmental Farm Plans and that the
three general farm organizations support the goals – the Ontario Federation of
Agriculture, the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario and the Ontario Branch
of the National Farmers Union.
When he was asked if anybody mentioned the possibility that
mandatory measures might be required, he said “not as yet.”
Leal was more interested in talking about trade and the
efforts he has made to persuade his counterparts to push for a new North
American Free Trade Agreement.
Leal said he met with seven state counterparts in June, was
at the talks among Mexican, U.S. and Canadian agriculture leaders in Denver in
October and has spoken with agriculture-industry leaders in 30 states.
