The Blue Mountains Mayor Ellen Anderson recently spent some time in Quebec where she attended the sixth annual members meeting and conference of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.

The mayors from Great Lakes cities in Canada and the U.S. gathered at Trois-Rivieres and, among other business, launched the City's Initiative Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products Framework, a program designed to keep pharmaceuticals and personal care products out of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Ideally, the initiative will track those products collected by municipalities from the water and improve the local collection and disposal efforts where there isn't enough action by the manufacturer, retailer and other government, according to a recent release by the Cities Initiative.

The mayors congratulated the U.S. and Canadian federal government on a recent agreement to negotiate a new Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and encouraged the higher governments to review the option of increased environmental testing of pharmaceuticals.

The mayors also elected Mayor George Heartwell of Grand Rapids as chair of the initiative.

Anderson said Georgian Bay was well-represented at the conference.

"Together, we see the health of the Great Lakes and specifically Georgian Bay as crucial to out sustainability," said Anderson in a press release. "I'm thrilled that this initiative is consistent with our value and is helping us address some of our own municipal priorities."

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative is a bi-national organization of 64 mayors and other local staff whom work with the federal, state, tribal, first nation and provincial governments for the restoration and preservation of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.