Lake Ontario, ON

My Watermark is Lake Ontario.

My first connection to water in Canada was with the Humber River. For as long as I can remember, areas along the Humber River have always felt like home to me. It was the times watching the Salmon Spawn or finding the spot under the willow tree by the edge of the water; that made me feel comfortable, and connected to nature. It also me feel at home in Canada after I had immigrated here.

My very first memory in Lake Ontario was with my parents when we were going to Centre Island. As we were heading there, my mom started to cry, and my younger self looked over to see a dead fish floating in the water. This really struck close to home for me because we had left a place with pristine waters, and then when we came to Canada and saw this, we were so shocked.

However, it has been so terrific to see the restorative work thats been happening over the last few decades, and how the lake is improving. I’m also really glad to be apart of the community that is working towards doing just that. Right now I’m working independently, but before that I was a Program Manager at Environmental Defence, working on their water campaign.