Mowat Centre and CUSLI Talk Stress Need for a Binational Approach to Ensure a Vibrant Great Lakes Future

A new group is working to ensure the Great Lakes Region is seen as the Fresh Water Coast, and not the Rust Belt.

Last week's Toronto Star highlighted the launch of The Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR).  

The goal:  secure a bright future for the the Great Lakes Region by bringing together the many public, private, and non-profit groups in the region, identify keys issues facing the region, and then develop and implement solutions.  

Whether its encouraging tourism, pushing policies in the public and private sphere that foster advanced manufacturing, addressing climate change, or pushing regulatory alignment in this bi-national trading hub, The Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR) has its work cut out for it.

David Kocan and Matthew Mendelsohn, directors of the Canada-U.S. Law Institute and the Mowat Centre, respectively, and CGLR launch committee co-chairs, talked CGLR and Great Lakes water levels in last Thursday's Toronto Star:

People on both sides of the border know that the health of the economy and the ecosystem on one side of the border will impact those on the other side. But no organization has a mandate to focus on the future of the binational region.

Infrastructure, energy, investment attraction and tourism are just a few of the issues where closer co-operation would benefit people on both sides of the border. Some of the first issues the new council will tackle will be water levels, infrastructure renewal and border improvements.

The future is unpredictable, but looking forward 25 years, the communities around the Great Lakes are a good bet to be among the best places in the world to live. But we must steward that common future together, with smart regulatory, policy and planning choices.

Until now, the region has not had a voice. With the founding of the Council of the Great Lakes Region, it finally does.

Snap Summary: CUSLI Nexus, Day 2, Energy Panel - Shared Energy Resources and Strategies in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region

A diverse group of energy experts shared presentations on the changing North American energy relationship.  The main takeaway: Canada-U.S. energy relations are changing, and whether its short-term energy development to meet current needs, or long-term shifts to green energy through coordinating North American power generation, sustained Canadian-U.S. engagement will be critical.

Julie Dill:  “Energy Is Good for the Region…[and building] a Strong and Sustainable Future”

Natural Gas Is Here, And With It Energy Will Flow to the Great Lakes Region Increasing Not From Alberta but from the Great Lakes Itself and the Northeast.

Snap Summary: CUSLI Conference 2013, Day 2, Bridge Builders Panel

The panel, chaired by Mowat Center Director Matthew Mendelsohn, discussed the great challenges facing the Great Lakes Region.  From just this emerging list of Great Lakes priorities, its clear ha there is a need for an organization like The Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR) is bring together experts and decision-makers to ensure a bright future for the Great Lakes Region.

Water and Non-Native Invasive Species.  Former Ohio Governor Robert Taft stressed water and non-native invasive species, noting the region’s core interdependence does not just derive from deep economic ties, but from geography and natural resource distribution.

Jobs.  Former Mayor of Toronto David R Miller gave a three-pronged proposal to generate jobs in the Great Lakes Region.

Snap Summary, CUSLI Conference Panel 3 – The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region in the Era of Global Competition

The Canada-U.S. economic relationship is fundamentally different with the raise of new major economic powers.  And public policies, whether workforce training or deciding how much foreign State-owned industries (read: China) can buy into domestic industries.

The panel participants:

Jim Dickmeyer, U.S. Consul General in Toronto (Chair)

Renato Discenza, C Suite Leader in Private and Public Sector

Kasi V. P. Rao, Kasi Rao Consulting Inc.

P. Kelly Tompkins, Executive Vice President for Legal, Government Affairs and Sustainability, and Chief Legal Officer,  Cliffs Natural Resources and President, Cliffs China

Christopher Smille, Senior Advisor, Government Relations and Public Affairs at Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO

Douglas Porter, BMO Capital Markets

The Global and Canada-U.S. Economic State of Play:  U.S. Looking Up, Canada Down a Touch, Great Lakes is a Critical Economic Player

Douglas Porter, of BMO Capital Markets, kicked off the panel with a presentation on the state of the global economy.

CUSLI Conference: Lunch Time!

Panel #2 – Snap Shot Summary: Water Governance in the Great Lakes Region

The Great Lakes can't solve all environmental threats facing the Great Lakes, but it can set an example for other regions and nations to follow.  And check out the Great Lakes Futures Project.

A pre-Q&A summary of the second panel of the CUSLI 2013 Conference.

Participants: 

• Lana Pollack, Chair of the U.S. Section, International Joint Commission (Chair)
• Andy Buchsbaum, Regional Executive Director, Great Lakes Regional Center, National Wildlife Federation
• Tim Eder, Executive Director, Great Lakes Commission
• Gail Krantzberg, Professor and Director of the Dofasco Centre for Engineering and Public Policy, School of Engineering, McMaster University
• Jeffrey Mears, Environmental Area Manager, Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin
• Rear Adm. Michael Parks, District Commander, Ninth  U.S. Coast Guard District (Discussant)

Past Successes, and Current Successes:  The Great Lakes, Great Lakes Compact, and the Invasive Species Threat

CUSLI Conference 2013 -Great Lakes Region - Panel 1: Economic Tranformation and Bi-National Cooperation

The 2013 Conference is underway.  Right now focus is on the launch of the Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR).

CGLIR is being launched.  And a panel of six distinguished experts in different areas of the Canada - US relationship are chatting about the importance of Canada-US organizations coming together to map out strategies to maximize the Great Lakes economic potential.

David Crane's 3 Challenges for the Great Lakes Region, and Where CGLR Must Make a Difference to Be Relevant

David Crane, of the Toronto Star, in typical fashion got to the heart of the matter.  For CGLIR to succeed it most identify and then help bring together problem solvers to tackling economic challenges in the region.

He mapped out three such challenges: