September 2026
The Honourable Julie Dabrusin, P.C., M.P.
Minister of the Environment, Climate Change, and Nature
Environment and Climate Change Canada
(Via email.)
Dear Minister Dabrusin,
We are writing collectively as organizations and stakeholders concerned about the growing threat posed by Water Soldier (Stratiotes aloides) within the Lake Simcoe watershed.
Water Soldier is an invasive aquatic plant capable of causing significant ecological disruption to freshwater ecosystems. It forms dense mats that displace native vegetation, impair fish habitat, interfere with recreational and navigational use of waterways, and threaten long-term ecosystem health. Its recent establishment in the Lake Simcoe watershed represents a serious and emerging environmental challenge requiring coordinated action.
This issue also highlights a broader concern: the need for sustained federal freshwater funding for Lake Simcoe.
As you know, the Liberal Party of Canada committed in recent elections to $40 million in programmatic funding to replace the former Lake Simcoe Clean-up Fund. The Government of Canada has also identified Lake Simcoe as a waterbody of “national significance” under the Freshwater Action Plan.
We welcome the federal government’s recent investments in Lake Simcoe-related projects and recognize the important work already underway through the Freshwater Action Plan. At the same time, publicly announced funding to date appears to represent only a portion of the government’s broader commitment to Lake Simcoe. In our view, this creates an important opportunity to direct additional federal support toward pressing and measurable threats, including aquatic invasive species.
Addressing invasive species effectively requires sustained monitoring, coordinated response capacity, applied science, public education, and long-term management funding. Municipalities, conservation authorities, Indigenous communities, environmental organizations, and local partners cannot be expected to maintain this work indefinitely through fragmented or short-term funding arrangements.
The Government of Canada’s own communications recognize that “sustained efforts through initiatives like the Freshwater Action Plan” are required to protect and restore Lake Simcoe. We agree.
Prime Minister Carney’s 2025 platform further committed to strengthening national water stewardship through the Canada Water Agency and to increasing enforcement efforts. Water Soldier in Lake Simcoe presents a clear opportunity to demonstrate these commitments in practice while continuing to honour the federal commitment to Lake Simcoe.
We therefore urge the federal government to provide dedicated, multi-year support for a coordinated response to Water Soldier in Lake Simcoe through Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Canada Water Agency. Such support would help enable early detection and monitoring, rapid response, applied research, local coordination, public outreach, and long-term management where required. Federal leadership at this stage would help prevent a more costly and difficult management challenge in the future.
The emergence of Water Soldier is a reminder that freshwater protection requires ongoing stewardship, not one-time announcements. While the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan is provincial, the federal government has explicitly committed itself to a leadership role in freshwater protection through the Freshwater Action Plan and the Canada Water Agency.
Lake Simcoe requires sustained federal partnership and funding capable of addressing the environmental pressures already affecting the watershed. A timely federal commitment on Water Soldier would demonstrate that the Government of Canada is prepared to act early, collaboratively, and at the scale needed to protect one of Canada’s most significant freshwater ecosystems.
We would welcome the opportunity to continue discussions with your office and the Canada Water Agency regarding how the federal government can support a coordinated response to Water Soldier and other emerging threats within Lake Simcoe.
Sincerely,
cc Hon. Joanne Thompson, Minister of Fisheries
Wade Grant, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change
Ernie Klassen, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries
John Brassard, MP for Barrie—Innisfil
Doug Shipley, MP for Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte
Scot Davidson, MP for New Tecumseth—Gwillimbury
Adam Chambers, MP for Simcoe North
Jacob Mantle, MP for York—Durham
Shannon Miedma, Chair of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Halifax
Ellis Ross, Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Skeena—Bulkley Valley
Patrick Bonin, Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Repentigny
Carol Anstey, Member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Long Range Mountains
David Bexte, Member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Bow River
Bruce Fanjoy, Member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Carleton
Wade Grant, Member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Vancouver Quadra
Will Greaves, Member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Victoria
Branden Leslie, Member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Portage—Lisgar
Chris Malette, Member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Bay of Quinte
Eric St-Pierre, Member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Honoré-Mercier
Tim Watchorn, Member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, MP for Les Pays-d’en-Haut