Coalition Updates

Henry Regier honoured by Governor General

Long-time Great Lakes activist Henry Regier was named a member of the Order of Canada in October, 2008. He was named to Canada’s highest civilian honour for his contributions to developing and implementing ecosystem management practices to protect freshwater fisheries—much of it focussing on the Great Lakes—and for his leadership in national and international conservation organizations.

Henry was one of the first highly respected scientists in the Great Lakes region to recognize the important role of citizens and non-government organizations in the protection of the Great Lakes. He had the courage to step out of the ivory tower of academia and to actively participate alongside citizens at a time when insulation and distance was the norm.

But, not only did he participate in the political process himself, he emboldened the NGO community to expand the boundaries of citizen participation.

As citizens campaigned for broader public participation, Henry was always on the backs of activists goading them to push that much harder for the rights that the public deserve.

Since 1966 Henry has been teaching and researching at the University of Toronto until retiring in 1995. In 1989, he rose to become director of the Institute for Environmental Studies at the university. He has served on the Great Lakes Science Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission  and as a commissioner on the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. He was also a lead author of the fisheries chapter for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 1995 report.

At the local level, Henry has worked closely with citizen groups who have fought to clean up the contamination at the former Uniroyal Chemical site in Elmira, Ontario. The site, which produced plastic explosive stabilizers during World War II, Agent Orange, and other rubber and agricultural chemicals, is responsible for contaminating the aquifers that lie beneath the plant. In 1990, the community switched to a piped source of water after the groundwater contamination was detected. Regier’s efforts in Elmira have helped to protect hundreds of thousands of people, as he worked to prevent the contamination from reaching a tributary of the Grand River.

The role of highly respected scientists, like Henry, as agents of change must not be undervalued. While his contributions as a researching scientist are remarkable, it must also be said that Henry’s work laid the foundation for integrating the ecosystem approach in the governance and management of our shared water resources. Add to this an unwavering support for women’s and aboriginal leadership, a humorous tendency to create fresh vocabulary to describe new ideas, and a true and honest humility, and you begin to glimpse the person.

Henry has said that he considers this award granted to a single man on behalf of all those he has worked with. “Two months after being struck by this particular lightning bolt I’m more convinced than ever that I’m the ‘designated recipient’ for you all.”

In recognition of the honour, the Kitchener-Waterloo Record opined, “Great athletes, famous artists, successful business people, our pre-eminent politicians—all have been honoured by the Order of Canada. This newspaper can think of no more worthy recipient than a scientist named Henry Regier who, with far less public acclaim, has devoted his life to preserving the planet. That, after all, is home to us all. Unless it is maintained, unless it is preserved, nothing else matters.”

© 2009 Great Lakes News.