Looks like Sault got a hub snub from Canada Water Agency

It’s been nearly one week since local officials learned the federal government chose Winnipeg over Sault Ste. Marie as the host city for the Canada Water Agency (CWA) headquarters.

Disappointed by the decision, members of the CWA task force in town remained hopeful the Sault could still have some involvement with the federal agency by hosting a regional hub.

But those ambitions appear to have been squashed as well.

SooToday has received confirmation from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) that four cities have been selected to host regional offices: Vancouver, Toronto, Quebec City, and Halifax.

ECCC provided the following written statement:

Freshwater management in a country as vast as Canada is complex. Challenges vary by region and addressing them can involve multiple jurisdictions. The Canada Water Agency will improve collaboration and coordination federally, and with provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples, and stakeholders to proactively address national and regional freshwater challenges and opportunities. The Government of Canada has created the Canada Water Agency to further strengthen federal leadership on fresh water, which will help ensure that our fresh water is safe, protected and well-managed for all people living in Canada.

Ward 5 councillor and local CWA task force member Corey Gardi says he learned of the decision through the media.

“If they already had made a decision, or they didn’t think we had a shot, I think the respectful thing for them to do was tell us from the get-go, or after at least one or two meetings with them,” he says.

As he did last week, councillor Gardi took to social media to share his frustration with the decision.

3/...shut out, makes no sense @s_guilbeault @JustinTrudeau. A community situated where #thesoo is, wanting to partner to protect 🇨🇦's and the 🌍's most precious resource, and help battle the effects of #ClimateCrisis on our 🌊 was a clear fit. Shame you didn't realize it....

— Corey Gardi (@coreygardi) April 1, 2023

The CWA, which will focus on ways to keep fresh water safe, clean, and well-managed in Canada, will therefore have no physical presence on any of the three major Great Lakes, which does not sit well with Gardi. 

“Considering our location, I thought we had a really good chance,” he says. “If not at the headquarters, but at some sort of research hub that dealt with the Great Lakes.”

“The federal government and the ministry (ECCC) seemed to make a big deal about decentralizing the agency out of Ottawa. But they decided to place the hubs in major metropolitan centres across the country. To me, if you’re going to decentralize and move to major metro centres, you might as well had just kept it in Ottawa.”

Gardi says the government still hasn’t notified anyone from the local task force regarding the choice to place regional hubs elsewhere, despite the decision appearing to be final.

“My understanding is the final decision was left in the prime minister’s office in consultation with the ministry (ECCC). Who made the decision ultimately? I don’t know. But the silence since the decision has been pretty deafening.”

According to Gardi, the last mode of communication from the government came some time after the 2022 municipal election when ECCC Minister Steven Guilbeault had sent a letter from his office to express his gratitude for the Sault’s CWA task force in their interest to host the agency.

Besides the Sault and Winnipeg, Gardi believes the other communities who either put forward a bid or expressed some interest in hosting the CWA were Regina, Niagara Falls, Montreal, and Laval, Quebec.

Meeting with over 250 people and dozens of agencies across the region, the Ward 5 councillor feels strongly the Sault should have had the bid in the bag.

“I think by far, we put forward the best presentation of any community,” he says. “We engaged our community, fostered partnerships on both sides of the bridge and across Algoma and northern Ontario.”

“We also had the support of Science North, of the Fresh Water and Education Research Centre across the river, our Indigenous communities, and our post-secondary institutions.”

ECCC noted in their statement that Winnipeg was selected as the host city "for its ability to provide regional responsiveness through a headquarters located outside of the National Capital Region."

While the local task force's efforts over the last two years in attempting to acquire the CWA headquarters didn’t land in their favour, Gardi says there are still some positives to take away from the experience.

“The way we went about it in terms of being as deliberate as we were and engaging the community and regional partners is the recipe and gameplan moving forward,” he says. “Despite the negative results, I think going through the process stands us in good stead when we identify opportunities for our community moving forward.”