H2O: Ideas & Action for Canada's Water

The Manitoba Government Employees Union is taking practical and real action to show their commitment to restoring the health of Lake Winnipeg. They recently announced the creation of a graduate student scholarship fund to support research on Lake Winnipeg. The $20,000 commitment over 5 years will allow a student to conduct research using the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium’s ship, the Namao, as a platform.

As well the MGEU has organized 3 Lunch and Learn Sessions where Colleen Sklar, Executive Director of Lake Friendly Initiative,will present information to members about how their everyday choices can make a difference to restoring the health of Lake Winnipeg and other water bodies. Our lakes and rivers are becoming overloaded with excess nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, and we need to spread the word that what we all do matters! Many people still don’t understand that much of what we put in our gardens, on our lawns and down our sinks can have negative effect on our waterways. Its choices about the products we use and the practices we employ in our everyday lives, that can start to make a difference. I particularly like The Lake Friendly message because it’s a concrete and easy way to get people involved in the solutions. Once people begin to understand that human actions are a major cause of the lake’s problems, we can motivate them to alter their actions whether it is their choice of cleaning products, lawn care, sewage treatment, agriculture methods or wetland protection.