Canada pledges Great Lakes funding after talks
AU holds its emergency evacuation responsiveness event
The Australian University (AU) hosted the Emergency Evacuator event organized by the Health and Safety Department in cooperation with the College of Business (COB).
The annual fund-raising event held this year revolves around how to respond to medical emergencies, evacuations, and firefighting. COB Students prepared various entertaining and educational activities as part of their academic requirements to help them develop their skills in event management.
In addition to that, the event hosted Emergency Medical Services Team and Kuwait Fire Force representatives to demonstrate practical training and educate AU community on how to respond to emergency situations.
Commenting on the event, Ms.Mariam Al-Maraghi, Manager of the Health and Safety Department at AU, said: “As an embodiment of the university’s keenness to provide an environment that is safe and reassuring for its students and staff, we organized the Emergency Evacuator event to raise awareness and reflect a positive safety culture, the measure of effectiveness of which will be the speed of response to all emergency scenarios, God forbid.
When it comes to medical emergencies and fires, especially as we are approaching the summer season, the rate of emergency incidents increases in various ways; therefore, we must ensure our university’s community is well-equipped with the right knowledge to ensure their overall well-being.”
In conclusion, the event was a success, with proceeds from the ticket sales, which totaled to 1,000 KD, being donated to Cancer Aware Nation (CAN).
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., March 26, (AP): Canada has pledged a significant increase in spending to improve water quality in the Great Lakes following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration also has boosted funding for the shared waters.
Following their discussion Friday in Ottawa, Trudeau said his government would spend $420 million - about $306 million in U.S. dollars - over the next decade on the lakes, still suffering from 20th century industrial pollution and newer challenges such as climate change, PFAS chemicals and microplastics.
The announcement came weeks after U.S. Congress members prodded Biden to seek more support for the lakes from Canada, which critics have accused of doing too little.
“The Great Lakes are a source of drinking water for 40 million people, and this shared resource needs to be protected,” Trudeau said. “This is why Canada will make a major new investment ... to continue safeguarding the Great Lakes for generations to come.”
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River are the world’s largest surface freshwater system, providing drinking water for some 40 million people and supporting a regional economy in eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.
Trudeau’s father, then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, signed an agreement with President Richard M. Nixon in 1972 to restore and protect the lakes. It has been updated several times since.
In addition to toxic residues in harbors and river mouths, the lakes are ravaged by invasive species such as quagga mussels, loss of nearshore fish and wildlife habitat, and farm and urban runoff that fuels harmful algae blooms.
The U.S. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, started by President Barack Obama in 2010, has pumped some $4 billion into projects aimed at fixing those problems, with annual spending averaging between $300 million to 400 million.