Feb. 14, 2012 (Ottawa) – More than 500 people across the city have written to Ottawa-area Members of Parliament (MPs) in recent days urging them to include funding for the Ottawa River Action Plan in the 2012 federal budget, but Conservative MPs have not yet responded.
While responses have been received from local NDP and Liberal MPs (see below), the signatories have not yet had the courtesy of an answer from the Government of Canada representatives— Hon. John Baird, Royal Galipeau, Gordon O’Connor, Pierre Poilievre and Pierre Lemieux.
“People are taking the time to voice their concerns, the least they can do is respond to the letter,” said Graham Saul, Chair of Ecology Ottawa.
Every year, the City of Ottawa dumps hundreds of millions of litres of untreated sewage directly into the Ottawa River. The City of Ottawa has developed a plan that will solve the problem, called the Ottawa River Action Plan, and both the province and the city have agreed to put up their share of the money. But in order for the plan to move forward, the federal government needs to approve its share of the funding in the upcoming 2012 federal budget.
Ecology Ottawa has launched anon-line letter writing campaign to encourage Ottawa residents to show their support for the Ottawa River Action Plan. More than 500 people have already taken the time to send letters, and the letters keep coming in.
“This is a concrete opportunity to cleanup our river and help build a better city,” said Saul. “We want our MPs to fight for this funding, and we think they should be taking the time to let everyone who writes to them know exactly where they stand.”
To read the responses received from Paul Dewar and David McGuinty, please visit the Ecology Ottawa website:
-30-
Latest posts
Council Approves Expansion and Permanence of Rain Ready Ottawa
Rain, rain, go away. Come again some other day. And when it does, Ecology Ottawa hopes the runoff is properly managed for the sake of Ottawans and the environment.