Ontario funds Experimental Lakes Area as parties continue working on long-term pact

The Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) research facility was officially thrown a life line with the decision by the Ontario government to provide $2 million annually as part of an interim agreement between the province, the federal government and the proposed new operator, the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

The pact was reached prior to a September 1st deadline which would have seen the facility shut down as part of the federal government's internal cost cutting initiatives imposed on the ELA's funder, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). All three parties continue to work on a long-term agreement that will ensure the ELA's sustainability under IISD management.

With an agreement, researchers will be able to access and work at the facility.

Announced on Labour Day by the Manitoba and Ontario governments, the IISD will provide $900,000 over six years dedicated to freshwater research and technology at the ELA. The Manitoba government recently concluded a $6 million funding agreement with the IISD, which is headquartered in Winnipeg and has offices in New York City, Geneva and Bejing.

The ELA was established in 1968 and is comprised of 58 lakes near Kenora ON — the federal riding of Greg Rickford, recently appointed junior minister of state for science and technology (R$, July 30/13).

The decision to close the ELA was a major impetus for the Death of Evidence rally last summer on Parliament Hill in Ottawa (R$, July 31/12). Research at the ELA in the 1970s has been credited with significant changes in industrial practices that were polluting Canada's lakes and killing its aquatic life, notably acid rain and phosphates.

The Manitoba government's funding of the IISD is part of Tomorrow Now — Manitoba's Green Plan — an eight-year initiative in support of environmental protection and sustainable development of the provincial economy.

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