Questions remain

Dear editor:
With Ontario committing itself to the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA), the ELA Support Group thanks Premier Kathleen Wynne. She has done the right thing.
The group also thanks the following:
•Diane Orihel, who inspired us to work hard and not give up;
•friends and neighbours, especially Elder Nancy Morrison, and supporters from all over Canada, who have attended forums and rallies and encouraged us;
•those who have written letters to the editor, and letters and petitions to the federal government, the government of Minnesota, and to Premier Wynne;
•regional media for their never-ending coverage of the ELA;
•Sioux Lookout, Dryden, and Kenora councils for their full support; and
•MPs Bruce Hyer, Elizabeth May, Megan Leslie, Kennedy Stewart, and Kirsty Duncan, to name a few, and MPP Sarah Campbell, all of whom have kept the ELA in the public spotlight and demanded answers.
The ELA Support Group knows there are many questions left unanswered. Who will provide long-term funding? Who will be in charge? Who will protect the public interest in making sure the ELA’s leading-edge science continues to protect the natural world and our health?
A very important question is whether the science will continue this summer. Will Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Trent University scientists who were set to go back to work at ELA on March 31 be able to?
The group hopes the public will be kept informed on these issues and on negotiations to transfer ELA to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
The ELA Support Group would like to see the creation of a citizens’ advisory committee to allow local citizens to better understand the ELA’s work and to create opportunities for educating students.
An advisory committee would create a sense of local ownership, dispel myths about the ELA, and ensure the ELA is here as long as the rivers flow.
The ELA Support Group will continue to keep Northwestern Ontario informed and will continue to work to ensure ELA’s future.
(Signed),
Peter Kirby
Kenora, Ont.