Mark Mattson
@waterkeepermark.bsky.social
President Swim Drink Fish. Former Lake Ontario Waterkeeper. Lives in Great Lakes St Lawrence River watershed. Biinaagami
No one is getting ripped off. The real question isn’t whether the US needs Canada, it’s whether either country still wants what we’ve built together. waterkeepermark.substack.com/p/lake-ontar...
Lake Ontario In The Spotlight For All The Wrong Reasons
Binational Disagreement Over Name Of Lake Ontario Threatens Cooperation on Great Lakes
waterkeepermark.substack.com
Lake Ontario Deserves More From President Trump. Water has the power to unite people, to make them stronger, to build futures. Lake Ontario is Beautiful Water. waterkeepermark.substack.com/p/lake-ontar...
Lake Ontario Deserves More From The President
There's going to be plenty said about whether President Trump has the power and support to rename Lake Ontario.
waterkeepermark.substack.com
Is Lake America the moment the Trump presidency jumped the Lake Ontario shark. @waterkeeper Not very respectful of a name that means beautiful waters or a watershed that is a shared responsibility. Lake Ontario existed long before America will survive this insult as well.
10 years ago today, The Tragically Hip played their last show in Kingston. I still think about Gord and what he taught me. On gratitude, the Lafarge case and the work that doesn’t stop. waterkeepermark.substack.com/p/grateful-t... @Waterkeeper
Grateful: Ten Years After the Last Show, Remembering Gord Downie
Ten years ago today, The Tragically Hip played their last show at the K-Rock Centre in Kingston.
waterkeepermark.substack.com
Jack Nicklaus learned to hunt ducks with his Uncle on Wolfe Island and named it a place he goes when not golfing. What makes Wolfe Island worth supporting: the ferries, the emergency access, the way of life people love like something you earn. waterkeepermark.substack.com/p/wolfe-isla...
Wolfe Island: Somewhere Worth Talking About
Love it the way you love something you earned
waterkeepermark.substack.com
Deep roots, new chapter. I’m officially running for Council on Wolfe Island! I look forward to working to address the Island transportation, safety and sustainability. Read my full announcement here open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
Running for Council on Wolfe Island.
Ontario Municipal Elections: October 26th 2026
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87,000 people just told Ottawa to stop dumping fill in Toronto Harbour. Now comes the real test: the Canada Ontario Great Lakes Agreement. 55 years and still unfinished business. open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
Ten Agreements Over 50 Years. The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River Watershed is Still Waiting for Canada and Ontario to Finish the Job
Did Billy Bishop Decision Change the Momentum?
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Engineers once called Toronto Harbour beyond saving. Now, fed gov kills idea for filling in Lake for Billy Bishop & City opens 10 acres of Biidaasige Park. The harbour didn’t get saved by engineers, it was saved by people who kept showing up for it. open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
The Toronto Harbour Shines
Biidaasige Park and Billy Bishop
open.substack.com
The Toronto Harbour Shines. Biidaasige Park and Billy Bishop open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
The Toronto Harbour Shines
Biidaasige Park and Billy Bishop
open.substack.com
Good show on swimmable water and cities in Canada this morning on The Current. Use @swimguide to find beaches and clean water before you swim. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
cbc.ca
Today, federal comment ends for proposal to fill in Harbour & Lake to extend Billy Bishop runway. Message from public consultation is that Toronto Harbour, the water park, has emerged as powerful new voice for restoration and protection of Lake Ontario. open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
The Toronto Harbour Dream
If you get a chance this summer, go down to the Toronto waterfront.
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The Toronto Harbour Dream. What if the heart of Toronto’s waterfront wasn’t meant to be like this? open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
The Toronto Harbour Dream
If you get a chance this summer, go down to the Toronto waterfront.
open.substack.com
Rosy Fingered Dawn boat ride with my friend Murray. Murray helped me become the Lake Ontario Waterkeeper back in 2001. Always great to get together - talk water, trees, family. Eat pizza.
We're Hiring: The Next Chief Executive Officer and President of Swim Drink Fish Why this is the most exciting environmental leadership opportunity in Canada right now open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
We're Hiring: The Next Chief Executive Officer and President of Swim Drink Fish
Why this is the most exciting environmental leadership opportunity in Canada right now
open.substack.com
Just watching the world sail by today. Lots to write about and calls to follow up on but it will have to wait until the rain tomorrow.
Just an fyi — if the Lake Ontario Blue Jays get Bo Bichette back from Mets — I will be invested in the next 70 games like, for real. Truth is, coming home for home, is what’s it’s all about. #odyssey
As we finalize comments on the proposal to expand runway in Toronto to allow for jets and more traffic (due July 24th) … good to remember that this project will make things worse for water quality by trapping contaminated water longer in harbour. Primer here. youtu.be/PTMoJafcwlQ
Toronto Harbour Report 2016
YouTube video by LOWaterkeeper
youtu.be
Toronto Harbour isn't finished being restored. We can't give up on it now. On the Great Lakes, Billy Bishop & why we shouldn't accept a degraded baseline as the status quo open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
Toronto Harbour Isn't Finished Being Restored. Don't Give Up Now.
How a decades old commitment to the Great Lakes is being quietly bypassed and why the debate over Billy Bishop Airport is about much more than a runway.
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7 things Toronto needs before we talk about expanding into the harbour: real-time CSO monitoring, debris cleanup, swimmable access in the West End, not a Special Economic Zone that waives the rules.
That murky plume in Toronto Harbour isn’t an accident, it’s 9 sewer outfalls plus the Don River. It already struggles to flush. A new report shows a Billy Bishop runway expansion would cut harbour flow in half. Time for a public summit on this waterfront. open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
What Is Guarding the Water Around Billy Bishop Airport Toronto and in Ontario?
Toronto's Inner Harbour where the Don River and combined sewer outfalls meet the bay.
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New city report: expanding Billy Bishop’s runway could cut water flow through Toronto’s Inner Harbour by 50%, trapping sewage and pollutants twice as long & undo billions spent cleaning up the harbour. “It’s reckless,” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Expanding Billy Bishop runway could degrade Toronto harbour water quality, city report says | CBC News
A new city report says the province's plan to expand the runway at Billy Bishop airport to accommodate jets could reduce water flow in Toronto's Inner Harbour, limiting its ability to flush sewage and...
cbc.ca
Funny way of saying swimmable drinkable fishable harbours are valuable assets to cities & business. But yes, “we know knowledge workers value urban amenities and access to nature. If our waterfront becomes less attractive, Toronto becomes less attractive to knowledge workers.”
Summers are a great time to celebrate birthdays. Happy birthday to my sister Kris who is always there for her family when it counts and when no one notices.
Over 5000 views for this substack rebuttal. Why? B/c the @globeandmail left out discussing the lake & waterfront in Billy Bishop editorial. I didn’t. Still a governing agreement that prohibits filling Lake. Public comment closing July 24. open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
What the Globe Left Out: Billy Bishop, the Harbour and Toronto's Waterfront Future
How to Win an Argument Without Having It
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The Globe’s Billy Bishop editorial reduced Toronto’s harbour to “some impact on boats.” No one has published how much lake gets filled in, so I did the math & came up with 60,000 truckloads for a project currently illegal under its own governing agreement open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
What the Globe Left Out: Billy Bishop, the Harbour and Toronto's Waterfront Future
How to Win an Argument Without Having It
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Second Greatest Blessing: A Note on Canada Day open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
Second Greatest Blessing: A Note on Canada Day
5 Things Worth Celebrating
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A 2003 EA said Billy Bishop’s habitat was already degraded so new damage didn’t count. Now a runway extension into Lake Ontario & new nuclear reactors proposed on its shores. A degraded baseline is not permission. 9 million people drink this water. open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
Nine Million People Drink This Water
A Lake Worth Talking About
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After 25 years as President of Swim Drink Fish I am moving to the board. New essay on what running a charity actually demands and why the oath is the whole thing. open.substack.com/pub/waterkee...
What Makes Running a Charity Special: A View from the Water’s Edge
There is a type of work that not many want to do.
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Today is National Indigenous Peoples Day. Our Biinaagami work exists because of the Shared Circle of Knowledge Keepers. Grateful for these partnerships. #biinaagami
