‘Cuts would directly impact freshwater restoration’: Leaked texts hint that Carney’s cuts will target water protection agency

As the federal government eyes billions in spending cuts, internal messages leaked from Environment and Climate Change minister Julie Dabrusin’s office reveal the Canada Water Agency, tasked with protecting the country’s lakes and rivers, could see its funding slashed, raising alarm over the future of freshwater protection.

The revelation came just days ahead of the August 28 deadline for federal ministers to present detailed plans to reduce departmental spending by 15 percent, as part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s pledge to bring more fiscal discipline to Ottawa. The PM wants to free up roughly $9 billion to meet Canada’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defence spending commitments, while also funding other big ticket spending items and finding savings for new tax cuts.

The cuts are expected to roll out in stages: 7.5 percent next fiscal year, 2.5 percent the year after, and five percent in 2028–29.

This isn’t a new development. The Liberal government has been eyeing “refocusing” government spending for some time now. 

In Budget 2023, the government committed to reducing spending by $15.4 billion over five years, and by $4.5 billion annually thereafter. That effort included scaling back travel, trimming professional services and cutting internal operations.

To meet these targets, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) plans to reduce its budget by $43 million in 2024–25, $63 million in 2025–26, and $91 million annually starting 2026-27.

With 20 percent of the world’s freshwater, Canada holds immense responsibility for safeguarding its lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands, but the country’s water systems are in crisis. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns that all 167 Canadian sub-watersheds are under threat, with nearly three-quarters showing moderate to high impacts from climate change. In a 2017 report, WWF Canada found that all but 41 sub-watersheds out of 167 have seen moderate or high impacts from climate change. “Even small shifts in temperature and the precipitation that replenishes rivers can have a large impact on ecosystem dynamics, including change in water levels and rate of flow,” the report stated. It noted 53 sub-watersheds were found to have “high or very high levels of disturbance,” with southern watersheds facing greater stress due to higher road densities and the concentration of Canada’s agriculture and industry in the region.

(World Wildlife Fund)

But this time, the Clean Water Agency (CWA) appears to be in the direct line of fire.

“Organizations are being asked to bring forward ambitious savings proposals to spend less on the day-to-day running of government by targeting programs and activities that are underperforming, not core to the federal mandate, duplicative, or misaligned with government priorities,” a statement by the CWA explained.

In a group chat accidentally shared with a National Post reporter, a senior policy adviser in Dabrusin’s office warned that the proposed cuts could result in "less algal bloom restoration work across the country", though the Great Lakes region would be spared from reductions.

“It would be inappropriate for the Department of Finance to speculate on what may or may not be under consideration for Budget 2025,” a statement shared with The Pointer by the Department of Finance noted.

Ontario Tech University’s Professor of Biological Science, Andrea Kirkwood, emphasizes the importance of the CWA’s role, not just as a researcher who receives grant funding from the agency, but as a “Canadian who cares very deeply about the health of freshwater ecosystems across Canada”.

“It took a very long time to finally create this agency, and it’s really all about action…It’s not just about the Great Lakes…inland waters are just as important. The CWA is critical for understanding and restoring freshwater ecosystems across the country,” Kirkwood told The Pointer.

It took five years of steady groundwork and political maneuvering to bring the CWA to life as a standalone institution. 

What began as a directive from former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2019 slowly took shape, first as a branch within ECCC in June 2023, then finally gaining full independence when the Canada Water Agency Act received Royal Assent on June 20, 2024. 

After years of promises, the country finally had a national agency dedicated solely to protecting its freshwater.

Kirkwood warns that cuts to the Canada Water Agency would have serious ripple effects, particularly on vulnerable water bodies like Lake Winnipeg, where algal bloom research and restoration efforts could be scaled back. 

“If the CWA suffers any severe cuts, it’s going to directly impact freshwater restoration,” she says. 

“Canada doesn’t really have another agency with the same resources or mandate to do this kind of work. The CWA was created to fill that gap, to build an efficient pipeline for getting resources to where they're needed most to protect our freshwater ecosystems.”

In the leaked text messages, the staffer also highlights this critical gap, pointing out that while other agencies contribute through scientific research and monitoring, none are equipped to carry out the restoration projects currently led by the Canada Water Agency.

Jonathan Scott, the newly appointed executive director of The Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, a watershed-wide charity representing 30 member groups, was preparing to launch a renewed vision for protecting Lake Simcoe beginning this September, but did not expect to start his tenure under such uncertainty.

“It was alarming, the leak confirmed our worries,” Scott, who is also a councillor for Ward 2 in Bradford West Gwillimbury and Chair of the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority, told The Pointer.

“The funding wasn’t negotiable; it was already less than what we were hoping for based on the Liberal Party’s promises in the election. We can’t take away funding that already feels insufficient and expect the lake’s health to improve. The reality is we need more support, not less.”

Scott says Lake Simcoe is facing serious threats from phosphorus pollution and eutrophication, conditions that trigger toxic algae blooms and frequent beach closures, both of which are being intensified by climate change.

Hot summers provide a breeding ground for phosphorus pollution, over-fertilizing blue-green algae and starving the lake of oxygen by covering the water’s surface and blocking light and oxygen from reaching the lake’s bottom, damaging ecosystems.

“It’s affecting the fish stocks and the natural environment. In this part of the world, it’s people’s homes, drinking water, and farms. Our economy depends on tourism, ice fishing in the winter, and cottaging in the summer. So it’s both an environmental, economic, and quality of life issue all at once,” he explained.

“Indicators are worsening; things aren’t getting better. Is it the worst ever? That’s hard to say.” 

He acknowledged some progress: reductions in specific pollutants, the tackling of some invasive species, and targeted risk mitigation. 

But new threats continue to emerge. 

Population growth and development pressures are fueling increases in phosphorus runoff and road salt pollution. While some battles have been won, others are just beginning. The construction of the Bradford Bypass threatens to exacerbate many of these issues. 

“It’s not like the pollution of the 1950s or 1960s, but it’s not where it needs to be according to the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. Funding without fixes means we risk losing momentum. Right now, we’re basically treading water and slowly sinking despite the efforts,” he added.

In 2021, Jonathan Scott (Bradford Councillor – Ward 2) and Dave Neeson (Georgina Councillor – Ward 3) sponsored motions to advance the Holland Marsh Phosphorous Recycling Facility in Bradford. Initially estimated to remove up to ten tonnes of phosphorus per year, the current agreement targets a reduction of two tonnes annually. The facility, supported by $24 million in provincial and $16 million in federal funding, is part of a two-phase effort to reduce phosphorus runoff into the Holland River and Lake Simcoe. Scott told The Pointer that the project is under construction, but what worries him is the phosphorus pollution levels in the lake have remained above Lake Simcoe Protection Plan targets. He also pointed to shifting ecological concerns; zebra mussels were no longer a major issue, but new endangered species had emerged. He emphasized that continued federal and provincial support was essential to restoring the lake’s health.

(Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority)

Coalition officials pointed out that under the previous federal government, Lake Simcoe received nearly $60 million over 10 years through the dedicated Lake Simcoe Clean-Up Fund. After the program ended, advocates pushed to include the lake in the Freshwater Action Fund. 

But the funding is less than the $40 million over four years promised, and now, even that progress could be rolled back.

Concerns are not limited to environmental groups. Public service unions are also raising the alarm.

“This government ran on a promise of "caps, not cuts." That promise has been torched. These aren't caps or "efficiencies" – they're deep, dangerous cuts that put jobs and critical public services at risk. What we're seeing is the most devastating attack on the federal public service in a generation – Harper-style austerity with a red logo slapped on,” the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) warns in a press release, following an emergency meeting of its Board of Directors in July.

“This government is doing this without a budget, without a vote in Parliament, and without a shred of transparency or democratic accountability. No debate. No public input. No consultation with unions. Just a backroom directive.”

The full impact of the proposed funding reductions is expected to become clearer in October, when Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tables the Carney government’s first federal budget.

But to get an idea, let’s go back to the early 2010s, when environmental programs were heavily cut under Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.

In 2011, Environment Canada’s budget was slashed by $222 million, eliminating over 1,200 jobs, directly impacting core programs for water quality, contaminated site remediation, and climate and air quality research, including funding for the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences. Fisheries and Oceans Canada was also heavily hit, with more than $100 million cut from its water protection work, including coastal monitoring and conservation programs.

The Harper government didn’t just reduce funding, it also reshaped federal environmental oversight. 

In 2012, sweeping changes to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act shrank the number of agencies allowed to conduct environmental reviews from 40 to just three, and cancelled roughly 3,000 active assessments. Major legislation like the Fisheries Act and Navigable Waters Protection Act were gutted, removing habitat protections and allowing industrial projects like pipelines and dams to bypass federal scrutiny across thousands of lakes and rivers. 

By March 2013, more than 5,300 scientists and professionals had either been laid off or reassigned, a 2014 report by the PIPSC notes. This included 139 scientists at Environment Canada, whose budget had already been slashed by $253.8 million since 2011, and 436 at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, with an additional $100 million in cuts still to come. 

In total, between 2008 and 2013, $596 million was cut from science and technology budgets across federal departments, and over 2,100 science positions were eliminated.

Entire programs vanished, including the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy, Canada’s lead federal advisory body on sustainable development, and the Ocean Contaminants and Marine Toxicology Program. 

The government also shuttered libraries, ended the Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission, and pulled funding from the world-renowned Experimental Lakes Area, forcing provincial governments to step in.

Between 2013 and 2016, another $2.6 billion was scheduled to be slashed from 10 science-based departments and agencies, with more than 5,000 additional positions expected to be lost.

As one survey commissioned by PIPSC revealed, 91 percent of federal scientists believed these cuts would have a detrimental impact on the government’s ability to serve the public interest. 

For many, the Harper era marked not just a fiscal tightening, but a systematic dismantling of Canada’s environmental science infrastructure.

Kirkwood says programs and protections lost during that period “never fully recovered”, and Canada’s environmental science capacity suffered a blow from which it is still recovering.

Now, with the Canada Water Agency (CWA) staring down the barrel of potential funding cuts, she and others fear the country’s about to repeat a very costly mistake.

“There's been a few improvements with the Trudeau government…allowing for better communication, but with respect to resources, they didn't really dramatically increase, and so, it would just be a real shame, especially when our neighbours to the south are completely gutting environmental protections. It's on Canada to be more vigilant with our freshwaters,” Kirkwood told The Pointer.

As previously reported by The Pointer, U.S. President Donald Trump’s budget cuts have severely weakened the NOAA lab responsible for monitoring the Great Lakes, jeopardizing not only American environmental oversight but also Canada's ability to safeguard drinking water, track climate change impacts, and respond to algal blooms and pollution. 

Scientists on both sides of the border have sounded the alarm, warning that a breakdown in monitoring and data sharing could have lasting consequences for over 40 million people who rely on the lakes for freshwater.

Canada’s ability to respond effectively depends heavily on federal and provincial coordination as well as sustained funding.

But with the anticipated funding cuts, the country might be moving in the opposite direction. 

ECCC is already among the lowest-funded ministries in Ottawa. In the 2024 federal budget, ECCC was allocated a total of $2.76 billion for the fiscal year 2024–25. 

Within this budget, $63.2 million was specifically dedicated to implementing a strengthened Freshwater Action Plan, historic investments aimed at tackling pressing freshwater issues, supporting clean-up efforts across multiple lakes and rivers and advancing the establishment and operational capacity of the CWA.

In stark contrast, the Department of National Defence (DND) received a monumental $33.8 billion for the same fiscal year, more than twelve times the budget of ECCC.

According to Climate Action Tracker, Canada’s international climate finance contribution is rated “Highly Insufficient.” While the federal government recently announced a plan to double its climate finance over the next five years, the move is not enough to offset years of underfunding. Canada's contributions remain well below its fair share, and the country continues to support fossil fuel development abroad, actions that further undermine its climate commitments. To improve its rating, Climate Action Tracker says Canada must halt overseas fossil fuel financing and substantially increase its climate financing. Even with recent pledges, Canada’s overall fair share contribution still falls into the “Highly Insufficient” category.

(Climate Action Tracker)

Andrew Van Iterson, spokesperson for the Green Budget Coalition, worries the federal budget reviews could jeopardize crucial environmental efforts at a time when Canada and the world are urgently trying to address challenges posed by climate change.

The Green Budget Coalition (GBC), a consortium of more than 20 prominent Canadian environmental organizations, has called for a minimum $1 billion investment over five years to protect Canada’s freshwater systems.

It includes expanding the Freshwater Action Plan with $700 million to reach more water bodies, improve water quality and quantity, restore aquatic ecosystems, support climate resilience and strengthen watershed governance.

The group also recommends creating a Strategic Water Security Technology Fund, with $100 million to support the development and deployment of Canadian-made research and development, artificial intelligence tools and monitoring systems to collaboratively confront the water crisis.

The GBC also suggests bolstering British Columbia’s Watershed Security Fund by $200 million to complement the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative and fund Indigenous-led restoration and climate adaptation efforts across the Pacific region.

Finally, it has been calling for enhanced funding for the CWA to ensure the agency can fulfill its full mandate and responsibilities effectively.

“I don’t fault the government for looking for efficiencies or savings, but we fought long and hard for the Freshwater Action Fund because it’s desperately needed. I hope they find efficiencies elsewhere, even if it makes our job harder. Good things are hard and worth doing,” Scott noted.

“What I love about Lake Simcoe is it’s one of those issues where even Conservative MPs want a Liberal government to spend more. I hope the federal government looks at this and says, ‘Even though we don’t hold these seats, we still want to do the right thing.’”

Ultimately, he says, “all levels of government need to row in the same direction; no pun intended.”

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