The International Joint Commission and the Great Lakes Borderlands Environment

Daniel Mcfarlene | BIG Research Reports | #91

It is difficult to exaggerate the magnitude of the Great Lakes freshwater system, comprised of lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario as well as connecting channels; it is likewise difficult to overstate the importance of these Great Lakes to northern North America. The lakes are surrounded by parts of eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, containing more than one-tenth of the population of the United States and one-quarter of the population of Canada. The region is one of the continent’s most important industrial areas; nor is the economic significance limited to industry, for the tourism, recreation, and fisheries sectors contribute billions to their respective economies, to say nothing of the shipping industry. Governance of such an important and dispersed resource would be daunting even if it was located solely within one political unit, but the nature of the Great Lakes zone as a borderlands region – with all the attendant crossborder economic, transportation, and security connections – has made it a driver of the evolution of Canadian American transnational governance and cooperation

Daniel Mcfarlene

The International Joint Commission and the Great Lakes Borderlands Environment