SAULT STE. MARIE -- The push is on to bring a yet-to-be formed Canada Water Agency to Sault Ste Marie. The agency was first identified during the Liberal government's previous mandate.
City councillor Corey Gardi and Mayor Christian Provenzano are spearheading the effort.
"Coun. Gardi and I have been working to lobby the federal government to locate that new agency here in Sault Ste Marie," said Provenzano. "We think there are a lot of natural qualities of the community that make it amenable to that type of agency and we think it would be a great fit."
The mayor said there are many reasons why the Sault would be a great fit for the new water agency.
"Direct access, obviously, to Lake Superior and Lake Huron," said Provenzano. "We have Algoma University and Sault College. Across the river there’s Lake Superior University that has a water institute at their university. Then there’s our rich First Nations history. We have our neighbours in Garden River First Nation and Batchewana First Nation and they would be great partners to partner in this, also."
Sault Ste Marie MP Terry Sheehan is also part of the effort to bring the agency to the Sault. He said it's still early in the process, adding the mandate and structure of the agency are yet to be finalized.
"We are at the beginning part of this process," said Sheehan. "I think Sault Ste Marie was wise to jump on this at the beginning. I know other communities certainly are interested in this.”
The Sault's bid to host the Canada Water Agency has the endorsement of the St Mary's River Bi-National Public Advisory Council.
Sheehan said national public consultations are ongoing.
