A translation by Judith Turcotte.
In an article in La Presse, Jocelyn Coulon, a well-known researcher, reminded us that President Trump, on his return to the White House, had confirmed the American withdrawal from the Paris Accord on climate change and from the World Health Organization (WHO) who, according to him, had mismanaged the COVID crisis. He then announced the withdrawal of the United States from UNESCO because some of its policies were in contradiction with his policies. His next target could very well be the United Nations Organization (UN). Trump claims that all these organizations must obey him on the basis that the United States finances an important part (25%) of these organizations.
Since taking office, Donald Trump has also made important cuts in environmental research. The organizations and organisms who carry out scientific research and who monitor the health of the Great Lakes are affected by these cuts. The Great Lakes, the largest surface of fresh water in the world, is an asset shared between two nations and the efforts to protect it have always been collaborative because we all recognize the importance of protecting this ecosystem which flows into the St. Lawrence. All is not negative. As he makes these cuts, Trump authorized actions to fight against the invasion of Asian carps in the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Basin.
Trump is not preoccupied by the environment and climate change which could deteriorate the quality of water but he realizes the importance of water to Southwest American states who are suffering from a lengthy drought. Canada’s reserves of fresh water represent an asset which he wants and he does not hide it. During the presidential campaign of 2014, Donald Trump, during a speech in California, claimed that it would be enough to open a large faucet in British Columbia to solve the drought problem and the state’s forest fire. With such a declaration, it would not be surprising to see the idea of diverting the water of the Great Lakes towards the South go through his mind particularly since a large part of the Great Lakes is American.
The IMC (International Joint Commission) who supervises the Great Lakes is composed of six commissioners, three named by Canada and three by the United States. The American representatives are named by the president of the United States with the Senate’s confirmation. If ever President Trump had his eyes on the fresh water of the Great Lakes, he would not hesitate in eliminating this commission. For the past one hundred years, part of the water of the Great Lakes has been directed to the Mississippi in what is known as the Chicago diversion. Trump has already mentioned that he would like to use the water of the Great Lakes to feed California and Arizona. He maintains that the Great Lakes should belong to the United States because the border that divides the lakes (four of five are shared) is an artificial line. He would like to re-examine the agreement of 1908 which had established this distribution.
As mentioned by one of my readers: “Oremus.” A Latin word meaning “let us pray.”