It takes “humility, care, and flexibility” for a diverse group of people to form a successful coalition…with some campaigning and facilitation skills thrown in the mix to turn plans into action!
Dani Lindamood, Programs Director at Water Watchers, currently facilitates the Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition (OSPC). The OSPC unites nonprofits and concerned individuals to advocate for a “provincial roadmap to a less salty future”, alongside municipal, academic, industry, and watershed allies. Dani began this role in late 2023, using her skills at integrating diverse perspectives and steering groups to build power and influence decision makers.
When I asked her why the coalition works so well together, she humbly pointed to the members’ deep shared care for water.
Unlikely Allies with Converging Priorities
Starting in the 1970s, reports on the long term, detrimental impacts of salt pollution on fresh water began to increase in Ontario. More recently, calls to prevent salt pollution have gained momentum. For example, in 2018 the Canadian Environmental Law Association, WWF-Canada, and Environmental Defence advocated for Ontario to set a provincial water quality objective for chlorides. The attempt was unsuccessful, but it set the stage for future action by bringing the issue to the forefront.
In the fall of 2023, priorities between unlikely interest groups suddenly converged, and advocates saw a potential new pathway forward. While Claire Malcolmson, executive director at Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, convened an initial virtual meeting for nonprofit leaders working on road salts through Freshwater Future’s Great Lakes Network, Landscape Ontario pioneered a Salt Forum to find a “win-win-win solution for public safety, business owners and the environment”. This industry group began advocating for legislation to provide limited liability protection in the private sector. (In a nutshell, this means that professionals could use less salt in winter by adhering to a certified Smart About Salt program, without facing legal repercussions.) The OSPC coalesced at an opportune time, and now works in allyship with this industry partner to call for legislation to benefit watershed health; the coalition formally joined Landscape Ontario’s working group in the spring of 2024. While a realistic timeline for policy change on chlorides in water could take years – and remains a long term goal of the OSPC – making a change to limited liability could happen more quickly and takes an important step towards improving water health.
Leveraging Limited Resources for Action
The OSPC has one high level campaign strategy across the province, which individual organizations can customize for local watersheds. At the centre of the campaign, there is a centralized email tool that organizations, including those outside the coalition, can share. It clearly communicates the problem, its urgency, and the solution and focuses on influencing four key provincial decision makers as well as individuals’ local MPPs.
The OSPC issued a press release and sent a letter to the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) leading up to World Water Day in March 2024, and their message was amplified by local media coverage across the province (see examples in Kitchener-Waterloo, Orillia and Newmarket). The MECP responded by outlining monitoring that is already taking place, and invited future correspondence. The OSPC plans to follow up and highlight the need to focus on protective solutions.
Coalition members are now keeping the momentum going with numerous actions, most recently including a press conference and community day in Barrie called “For the Love of Water”. This event centered the salt pollution campaign in the context of holistic watershed health and brought people together to unite their voices. Moving forward, OSPC members are looking to engage municipalities on improved salt management and coordinate pressure on the provincial government to deliver on needed policy and regulation. Salt pollution requires watershed-responsive policy, recognizing that what works in one place can be customized for another.
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It’s challenging to sustain coalitions through highs and lows, and long term support is crucial to make change possible. If you want to join the OSPC, endorse its work, or help find creative ways to fund it, please reach out to Water Watchers at wellingtonwaterwatchers@gmail.com, and share the opportunity to support the work in your own networks.