At Issue: Lake Simcoe Protection

While the mandatory 10 year review protection measures of Ontario’s fourth largest lake seeks to add protections, some say the plan could be eroded.

In 2008, the Lake Simcoe protection plan came into effect. 

It was a broad strategy to reduce phosphorus  loads and algae cover -- a plan to make the lake safe for coldwater fish again, and generally move towards more protection for the lake as Climate becomes an ever-present threat to ecosystems worldwide. 

And the plan, by most accounts, worked. Phosphorous loads decreased by 50 percent since the plan came into being, algae has decreased and conditions for fish in the lake have gotten far better. 

But now, over 10 years later, a revision is on the table. And that’s required by provincial legislation -- but the review comes at a pivotal time in the lake’s history. 

“Places that are heavily urbanized affect water quality,” said Claire Malcolmson, executive director of the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition. “People know that about Barrie and Orillia, but what people may not know is that is the population of the Lake Simcoe watershed is projected to double over the next 20 years.”

And the population on the lake’s watershed has boomed. It’s expected to rise by over 100,000 in the coming decades. 

“That is the growing threat to Lake Simcoe,” said Malcolmson. 

Rapid infrastructure growth, climate change, rising chloride levels and more have challenged the lake’s health. 

A letter from Ontario’s Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks states that a revision to the plan will take all this into account -- seeking to add further protections to the plan moving forward. 

However Malcolmson and the Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition say that this review process could, in fact, backtrack the plan’s progress.

“Our position is really that we want to protect the plan, we don’t want to see it changed,” said Malcolmson.

“What we have right now at Lake Simcoe is really quite good, in terms of policies that impact development.”

Now they, along with other environmental groups like Lake Simcoe Watch, Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition are urging people to get involved, and give feedback as the Ministry of the Environment launches the review. 

Specifically, they say if people don’t speak up, developers may sway the decision-making process — that’s a risk she says is elevated under Ontario’s current government. 

“They're really wrecking a lot of things,”  and I don’t think they have the experience to rebuild things in a good way. We’re concerned because of their track record.”

Premier Ford’s administration have been criticized for their stance on multiple environmental issues: for example limiting the oversight of environmental protection groups through Ministerial Zoning Orders (MZO) which can override objections to development. 

In 2020, Ontario’s Auditor General released a report outlining how Ontario is set to miss carbon emission reduction targets due to the Provincial governments legislative priorities.

For more information on the plan and to give feedback, click here.