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CANADA — The Green Parties of Canada and the United States today called on the U.S. Government to stop firing live ammunition using automatic weapons in the Great Lakes. The training drills pose a significant threat to the health and safety of wildlife, boaters and commercial users of the Great Lakes.
“The U.S. Coast Guard’s rationale is absurd,” said Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May. “Canada is not harbouring terrorists planning a marine assault on the United States across the Great Lakes. The notion is ludicrous.”
According to the Globe and Mail, the risk of lead exposure to fish and over 40 million people who depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water has alarmed environmentalists as well as city mayors on both sides of the border.
“The Government of Canada along with the governments of Ontario, Quebec, and U.S. Great Lake states have been working for years to reduce the threat of lead contamination,” said May. “Fishermen are banned from using lead sinkers yet the U.S. Coast Guard has shown nothing but contempt for this effort with its recent actions.”
Since January, the U.S. Coast Guard has conducted 24 drills, each time firing about 3,000 rounds of lead bullets from machine guns as close as eight kilometres from the Canadian border and U.S. shores.
Several international treaties are impacted by the U.S. action, including the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty. The drills also contravene the treaty signed at the end of the War of 1812.
“Military actions have serious environmental impacts,” said May. “Canadian off-shore areas still have serious hazards from munitions, chemical biological weapons and ordinance dumped at the end of the Second World War. The Prime Minister must act immediately to protect the Great Lakes from contamination by the U.S. military.”
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