Lake Winnipeg cleanup gets $18M more in federal funds

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said today that federal funding will be renewed for cleanup efforts for Manitoba's Lake Winnipeg, a body of water he called one of the world's natural wonders.

Funding for the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiative, a project that began in 2008 and was due to end this year, will continue for the next five years, Harper announced at an event in Gimli, Man. About $18 million is being committed to the project, he said, bringing the total so far close to $40 million.

"We're seeing positive results but more needs to be done," Harper said.

Harper said the federal government will work with the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium to combat the growth of nutrients in the lake that has led to massive algae blooms in recent years.

The prime minister said the lake is not only important environmentally, but also economically. It helps generate tourism and has a fishery, he said.

"We have ambitious goals for Lake Winnipeg, and so we should," he said.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, a Manitoba MP, local MP James Bezan and a number of other members of the Conservative caucus joined Harper for the announcement at a hotel and resort on the shore of Lake Winnipeg.

Protesters gathered at the site to confront Harper over cuts to the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA), a series of lakes in northwestern Ontario where scientists have studied the effects of acid rain and phosphates on freshwater lakes, including Lake Winnipeg. The government announced in its most recent budget it was ending about $2 million in annual funding for the ELA effective this fiscal year.

Harper was asked about the ELA and he made it clear the government has no intention of reversing its decision to close the facility.