Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United calls on the governors and premiers of the Great Lakes basin to rapidly conclude their negotiations for an agreement pursuant to the principles of the Great Lakes Charter Annex (Annex 2001) and agree to a common system across the basin portion of all eight states and two provinces for managing human withdrawal and use of basin waters such that the basin ecosystem is protected, improved, and restored.

Be it therefore resolved that Great Lakes United call on the Government of the Province of Ontario to 1) introduce Advanced Renewable Tariffs as a mechanism to foster the rapid development of farmer-, cooperative-, and locally owned renewable power projects and 2) direct the Lieutenant Governor in Council to: Define qualifying projects by capacity, technology, and form of ownership or capital structure
Institute Advanced Renewable Tariffs that guarantee a minimum price for a minimum term to qualifying projects. Set allowable charges and requirements applicable to transmitters and distributors for evaluating, connecting to, and providing service to qualifying projects, and Direct transmitters and distributors to 1) issue standard contracts for interconnection written in clear language, and 2) guarantee the right of interconnection within a maximum of three months from receipt of a request for interconnection.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United call on the Province of Ontario to deny certificates of approval for the extension of the York-Durham Sewer System to King City and other area towns and Be it further resolved that in light of new information on impacts of YDSS expansion to groundwater flows, and to the ecosystems and fish dependent on those flows, Great Lakes United call on the Province of Ontario and the Federal Government of Canada to undertake a full, individual Environmental Assessment of the 2002 master plan for the York-Durham Sewer System.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United urges Congress to require full Canadian participation in the design and implementation of the Supplement Report as a condition of further funding, and Be it further resolved that Great Lakes United urges Congress to require the Corps to work with other federal agencies and the Canadian government to agree on binational goals and objectives of the Supplement Report, including the following: To assess cumulative environmental damage and socioeconomic losses related to past commercial navigation system construction and operation, and To assess the engineering needs, economic benefits, and environmental and socioeconomic costs, both indirect and cumulative, associated with maintaining the current commercial navigation system, and. To examine the national and regional socioeconomic justification and environmental consequences of continuing foreign commercial shipping through the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United urge Great Lakes basin governments to create comprehensive, long-term energy strategies with extensive public input, addressing among other things: the environmental impacts of manipulating Great Lakes basin water flows to facilitate short-term increases in the output of existing hydroelectric power plants to meet temporary energy shortfalls, and the environmental impacts of new hydroelectric power dams, particularly those proposed in previously undammed rivers.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United urges the Government of Quebec to: not to approve the expansion of the outdoor high-level radioactive waste facility at Gentilly-2, and instruct the Board of Directors of Hydro-Quebec not to approve the planned repairs of the Gentilly-2 reactor, and announce as a matter of public policy that Quebec will be the first jurisdiction in North America to phase out of nuclear power as of 2008 at the latest, by which time Gentilly-2 will be permanently shut down, and announce as a matter of public policy that funds which would have been allocated to the repair of Gentilly- 2 will instead be invested in community-based energy conservation projects throughout Quebec.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the Canadian Autoworkers recommends to Transport Canada that the goals of the supplement to the reconnaissance study be to: Examine the engineering needs and costs associated with maintaining the benefit of domestic shipping and jobs to the regional economy, and examine the economic justification of continued access by foreign ships to the Great Lakes basin.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Great Lakes United calls on the U.S. Congress to immediately stop the Great Lakes Navigation System review, and calls on the Canadian Government to withhold financial or administrative support to the said study.

PowerPoint summary of the 2005 report, "Ocean Shipping In the Great Lakes: Transportation Cost Increases That Would Result From A Cessation of Ocean Vessel Shipping". This report concludes that a cessation of ocean shipping on the Great Lakes would result in a transportation cost penalty of US$54.9 million per year.

The principal conclusion of this study is that a cessation of ocean shipping on the Great Lakes would result in a transportation cost penalty of US$54.9 million per year. The study has been peer reviewed by a panel of four peer reviewers from the agricultural economics and economics professions who concluded that the study methodology and conclusions are reasonable. The relatively small transportation cost penalty of US$54.9 million is due to the fact that just 12.3 million metric tons of ocean vessel cargo passed into and out of the Lakes via the MLO Section of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 2002, or some 6.8% of total Great Lakes -St. Lawrence Seaway System tonnage.