Citizen participation is key in the development of Remedial Action Plans for 43 designated Areas of Concern around the Great Lakes. Relevant interests or stakeholders are brought together to achieve consensus on issues and remedial actions in long-standing problem locations where the Agreement's objectives are not being met. Upon learning the extent of the problems, stakeholders often become leading proponents of community action. Collingwood Harbour on Georgian Bay is no longer an Area of Concern due to successful remedial actions. The Arctic is home to unique and sensitive ecosystems and diverse Aboriginal communities.
Airborne pollutants accumulate in Arctic waters and become concentrated in the food chain.
Some Aboriginal people in Canada's Arctic have elevated levels of PCBs in their bodies because they depend on marine mammals as a dietary staple. The principal sources of these polluting emissions are global, and cooperation between countries is required to develop solutions. Canada has been actively promoting international action to address problems related to persistent organic pollutants and their effects on human health and the environment. Canada continues to support the development of the protocol on the long-range transport of airborne pollutants under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention, to be signed in June 1998, and the development of a globally, legally binding instrument to control the atmospheric deposition of persistent organic pollutants under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme. Canada is also participating in the Arctic Council, which was established in 1996 to promote circumpolar cooperation in resolving the critical issues of environmental protection and sustainable development in this region.