WHEREAS the transfer of invasive Asian Carp (an aquatic nuisance species) into the Great Lakes poses a significant threat to the health and welfare of Canadians and Americans; and

WHEREAS the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was authorized by U.S. Congress in 2007 to prevent the movement of aquatic species between the Mississippi River Basin and the Great Lakes Basin; and

WHEREAS, according to a 2009 Risk Assessment conducted by the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the time has come to take decisive, co-ordinated actions to protect the Great Lakes from reaching the avoidable, irreversible ecological “tipping point” that is anticipated to result from an Asian Carp invasion; and

WHEREAS a permanent, sustainable solution to the proliferation of Asian Carp in the Great Lakes Basin requires re-establishing the hydrologic separation between the Mississippi River Basin and the Great Lakes Basin in the Greater Chicago area, as confirmed in Resolution 8-2010M approved by the members of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in 2010; and

WHEREAS the complementary “Statement of Unity” respecting Asian Carp approved by the members of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in 2010 established a series of short term (2010), mid term (2011-2012) and long term (2013 and beyond) actions; and

WHEREAS the Statement of Unity did not anticipate the need for and appropriateness of conducting public hearings regarding Asian Carp as an international pollutant under Section 310(a) of the Clean Water Act of the U.S.A. to allow citizens and stakeholders in U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes communities who are concerned about the impact of an Asian Carp invasion to provide comments directly to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and

WHEREAS the above-noted Resolution and Statement of Unity were endorsed as an expression of shared widespread concern about the threats that invasive Asian Carp would pose to ecological conditions, habitat and recreational activities along Great Lakes and St. Lawrence shorelines and tributaries, yet Canadian municipalities, stakeholders and citizens have not been provided with the opportunity to express their concerns directly to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as the U.S. Clean Water Act does not require that public hearings be conducted in Canada or, more specifically, in Ontario and Quebec;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the comments and recommendations set out in the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority report entitled “Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Feasibility Study-Invasive Asian Carp Species”, dated April 29, 2011, and the comments of Great Lakes United to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), dated March 31, 2011, regarding the “Great Lakes and Mississippi Interbasin Feasibility Study” be endorsed;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the members of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, other stakeholders and the public be afforded an opportunity to convey their views about the serious adverse impacts of Asian Carp, on recreational activities and commercial fisheries, as identified by both the Ontario Government and Environment Canada and valued at approximately $400 million CDN per year, and other potentially costly impacts, in a public hearing conducted in Canada forthwith, and that USACE provide regular opportunities for discussion about their progress in public forums, at least two times per year, in Canada;

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this resolution be sent to the Board of Directors of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative requesting that said resolution be considered and approved at the Annual General Meeting being held on June 16, 2011 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada and then sent forthwith to the U.S. Department of State with a request that Foreign Affairs host a public hearing in Canada where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers team would be invited to hear the comments of Canadian municipalities, other stakeholders and members of the public about the impacts of invasive Asian Carp on shared international waters.