Canada pledges Great Lakes funding after Trudeau-Biden talks

By JOHN FLESHER
AP Environmental Writer

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Canada has pledged to step up spending to improve water quality in the Great Lakes. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement Friday after meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. Some members of the U.S. Congress and advocacy groups had complained that Canada has done too little to help clean up the lakes, which suffer from industrial toxins, invasive species, harmful algae and other problems. Trudeau says his government will spend $420 million, or about $306 million in U.S. dollars, over the next decade on Great Lakes cleanup. Combined with increased U.S. funding, it will target longstanding environmental problems in the world’s largest surface freshwater system.