Downtown advocates hope new federal water agency at Cityplace will help workers ease regional drought – Winnipeg Free Press

A new federal agency is making its home downtown, and advocates for the city's business community couldn't be happier.

Although Winnipeg was named as the home of the Canadian Water Agency last year, its location – at Cityplace – was not announced until Friday.

“We're always excited to welcome new offices downtown, and government offices play a really important role in the downtown landscape,” said Rhiannon Hayes, BIZ director of policy and economic development for downtown Winnipeg.

“We're always excited to welcome new offices downtown, and government offices play a very important role in the downtown landscape.”– Rhiannon Hayes

“Bringing workers back downtown is still critical to downtown revitalization. We know they are having coffee and working or meeting people for lunch. Small businesses always welcome more workers downtown.”

The location was announced by Winnipeg South MP Terry Duguid.

“It's very rare to have a major government department located outside of a major metropolitan area,” said Justin Trudeau, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and Special Adviser on Water.

The agency, which will start working in the fall, is recruiting. About half of the expected 215-person workforce will be based in Winnipeg, with the rest being posted elsewhere, including Ottawa, Duguid said.

It's an independent entity similar to Parks Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada and is fully funded with $85 million over five years, he said.

Environment and Climate Change Canada's Winnipeg branch is also located downtown. The two agencies share a common interest and will work together to protect and manage “our freshwater resources,” Duguid said.

Instead of a regulatory body, the Canadian Water Agency is “an agency for collaboration, coordination and partnership with critical resources that actually improves water management in our watersheds,” he said.

It draws on Manitoba's experience and expertise in water issues, whether it's spring flooding, blue-green algae on beaches or ice jams on the Red River.

“Water is very important to us in Manitoba,” said Duguid. “Having this agency in the middle of the Prairies, where we have all these water challenges, really makes a big difference.”

“Having this agency in the middle of the Prairies, where we have all these water challenges, really makes a big difference.”– Terry Duguid, MP for Winnipeg South

This is expected to bring new investment, create new jobs and continue the work being done in this area by organizations such as the Lake Winnipeg Foundation, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Freshwater Institute.

Its purpose is to bring together municipalities, provinces, local governments and groups and scientists in a coordinated manner.

Duguid said the agency will have two key priorities.

One of them administers the federal Freshwater Action Plan, a 10-year, $650 million fund in the 2023 budget to address groundwater depletion.

It includes funds for Canada's major watersheds, including the Great Lakes, Lake Winnipeg, Lake of the Woods and the Experimental Lakes Region in northwestern Ontario, managed by the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development.

The other will lead the agreement and consultation to modernize Canada's more than 50-year-old water law, he said. It was introduced in 1971 under then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau “when climate change and indigenous rights were not referenced in the legislation,” Duguid said.

Trudeau's son Justin, the current prime minister, was also in Winnipeg on Friday. The Canadian Water Agency is trying to restore support for freshwater resources that was dismantled by the previous federal Tories, he said.

“This is a response to the Conservatives shutting down the PFRA Prairie Farm Restoration Act, which was designed to protect water on the prairies,” Trudeau said at an unrelated event.

“This is a response to conservatives who blocked the PFRA Prairie Farm Restoration Act to protect water on the prairies.”– Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

“When the Conservatives cut experimental lakes (area), when they cut freshwater stands…we've seen years of underinvestment and water not being protected, so in recent years we've stepped up. working in important ways to restore science and research, and working closely with jurisdictions like Manitoba that are willing to work to protect freshwater resources, combat invasive species and nitrification,” Trudeau said.

“We will continue to work with our colleagues to ensure that Canada's most precious resource — fresh water, which we have more than any other country in the world — is there for future generations.”

The Canadian Water Agency has been in operation since 2019, when the federal government said it would create a water agency. The government needed this agency because the country was facing many challenges such as floods, droughts and water quality degradation, which is mostly due to climate change. Online public discussions were held from the end of 2020 to March 1, 2021.

It is expected to be launched this spring, but has been delayed by the opposition Conservatives, who supported the passage of Bill C-59, which includes the Canadian Water Agency Act, which would enact it, Duguid said. It is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

“We fought for it and we fought hard for it,” Duguid said. Locating the National Microbiology Laboratory and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg also required a struggle, he said.

“So now Winnipeg is standing up for its health, rights and now Canada's waters.”

— With files from Kevin Rollason

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