Two to three new invasive plant and animal species creep into Northern Ontario every year.
The latest unwanted pest is the winged emerald ash borer which touched down this fall in a Sault Ste. Marie residential neighbourhood.
It joins the Eurasian Watermilfoil, discovered in the Desbarats River, east of the city. This is an aggressive submerged aquatic plant with a dense floating mat that chokes out other native plants.
Yet devastating plants, aquatic and other little flying critters that chew on wood are invading the North faster than politicians and bureaucrats are responding.
Errol Caldwell’s ongoing call for an invasive species research centre continues to fall on deaf ears in Ottawa.
The Sault-based executive director of Science Enterprise Algoma (SEA) prefers not to say his campaign for an $85 million facility is stalled, but its progress is severely “hamstrung” until the federal government shows its commitment to solve this problem with cash.
Even the $15 million promised by the McGuinty provincial government, Caldwell says is “way short” of the funds needed to break ground and build a waterfront facility on the campus of the Great Lakes Forestry Centre.
In October, Provincial Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield accused federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz of “being on some other planet” for not anteing up with Ottawa’s share of funding.
Cansfield, who was lobbying on behalf of Sault MPP David Orazietti, said the written response from Ritz to her queries was that the problems of the emerald ash borer and the Asian long horned beetle have all been addressed.
Political name-calling is small comfort to Caldwell. Without federal support there is no way the research centre proposal can have a national mandate.
What’s needed is a cash injection of “new money” on top of the $85 million in federal money budgeted in 2005 to deal with invasive pest control across Canada over five years.
The Sault, presumably, has a major card to play as the home of both federal and provincial forestry labs, but the extra manpower needed to deal with pests has dried up through retirements and lack of money.
“Part of the problem is federal departments don’t want to be seen to be supporting this, because they might have to pay for it out of their departmental funding,” says Caldwell. “They have barely enough money to keep themselves afloat and maintain their own operations.
“It’s frustrating because this is something that should be very high on the public policy agenda from an economic and environmental perspective. We’re getting a polite audience at best and absolutely no financial commitment to date from the federal government.”
Despite the $15 million provincial pledge, Caldwell says, not a penny has been spent.
SEA’s consultants recommended that if the feds and province each invested $42.25 million over five years ($8.25 million annually),it would pay for the institute’s construction, operation and payroll for a decade.
Still, he’s keeping his options open in looking for other funding sources to at least secure money for a required $20-million quarantine facility.
Until the cheques arrive and staff can be recruited, he has an Environmental Canada intern working on a public outreach and education program for the public to learn about invasives and how to control their spread.
One related capital project that is forging ahead is the construction of new labs and offices for the Department of Fisheries in the Sault. The fourth floor of the Great Lakes Forestry Centre will be the new home of the 38 staff of the Sea Lamprey Control Centre by November 2009, says its director, Dr. Robert Young. There will also be space for other federal fish and aquatic science, and habitat management personnel in the city.
Two new buildings will be constructed on the grounds for a workshop and chemical storage of their lampricide.
Quinan Construction was awarded the building contract that will replace the DFO’s current digs built in 1965 at the Sault canal.
“We’re really excited about the prospect of new facilities,” says Young.
