Governmental actions
In 1973, the St. Lawrence Study Committee was set up in the wake of a federal-provincial agreement. Approximately 20 recommendations resulting from the Committee’s work were produced. These dealt mainly with municipal and industrial clean-up problems, dredging of contaminated sediment, shoreline development and protection and resource conservation. Already there was recognition of the need to coordinate the actions of the federal and Quebec governments relating to the river.
Then, the St. Lawrence Project team, created by the Quebec Executive Council in 1982, issued a report entitled Le Saint-Laurent—ressource nationale prioritaire [The St. Lawrence—A Priority National Resource] in 1985. The development project specifically targeted international shipping. 1 The government later created the St. Lawrence Development Secretariat to promote both commercial and recreational marine and river transportation on a national and international scale.
Two years after the St. Lawrence Project report was published, the Quebec Cabinet gave the provincial ministers of environment and transport a mandate to propose an integrated plan for the environmental and economic development of the St. Lawrence. 2 The Steering Committee, better known as the Dagenais Committee, thus came into being. In June 1989, the Dagenais Committee presented an ambitious development program for the St. Lawrence. The objectives of the program were to restore the quality of the St. Lawrence, protect and conserve it and exploit its full potential and its banks in order to recover lost uses and enhance current uses. 3 The Committee formulated 174 recommendations dealing with water quality and sediment management, urban and industrial clean-up, water level regulation, protection of the riverbanks, shorelines and flood plains, conservation of natural heritage, tourism and recreation, commercial and sport fisheries, shipping, and tools for promoting the St. Lawrence. The accomplishments that flowed from this wide-ranging program centred mainly on urban and industrial clean-up.
Parallel to the work of the various committees, the Quebec government put in place its major wastewater treatment program. Through measures carried out under the Quebec Water Treatment Program (PAEQ), the Municipal Wastewater Treatment Program (PADEM) and the Industrial Waste Reduction Program (PRRI), as well as under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, water quality in the St. Lawrence has improved considerably over the past 30 years.
Since 1988, the St. Lawrence Action Plan has made a major contribution to improving the health of the St. Lawrence by stimulating interest within the population to “reclaim the river.” The federal and provincial governments have been working together since 1989 to conserve, protect and restore the St. Lawrence ecosystem and recover uses related to the river through co-operation agreements under the St. Lawrence Action Plan (1988-1993), St. Lawrence Vision 2000 (1993-1998 and 1998-2003) and St. Lawrence Plan for a Sustainable Development (2005-2010). Over a 20-year period, this collaboration has produced tangible, meaningful results in terms of community involvement, agricultural clean-up, biodiversity conservation, urban and industrial clean-up, development of a sustainable navigation strategy and improving the health of riverside residents affected by contaminants in the river.
Date modified: 2008/04/30 – Important Notices
