I agree with this editorial from the Saskatoon Paper.
At a time when global attention increasingly is focused on the environmental impact of oilsands development, and when the glacial melt that supplies fresh water for cities such as Calgary and Saskatoon is accelerating, the research being done by scientists at the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) centre plays an important role in helping to understand the impacts human activities have on water quality.
Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/Restore+funds+water+centre/6803636/story.html#ixzz1yGiKzfCO
While I am open to ideas of how this facility could become a partnership operation, at the end of the day, it is very important to keep it operating.
A few years back when the Manitoba government imposed a moratorium on the hog industry, research from this facility demonstrated that the government was not operating on a valid scientific base.
I am open to the concept that the current mandate of the experimental lakes operation extends beyond DFO and thus should be funded by other agencies, both federal and provincial. However, until those agreements are put in place, the core operations should be maintained without interruption.