Lake Winnipeg | Vicki Burns

Vicki Burns is well-known in environmental and animal health circles. For more than 14 years she was the executive director of the Winnipeg Humane Society. Now she is director of the Save Lake Winnipeg Project where she increases public awareness of the crisis facing the Lake Winnipeg Watershed. She is also associated with Hogwatch Manitoba, campaigners for major changes to the hog industry in the province, commonly thought to be a contributor to lake pollution.

Burns was my first interview for this project. She offers an overview of some of the problems affecting the lake and proposes ways to make changes that might improve lake health.

This is an edited interview which removes some of the non-essential chatter and most of my questions (since I wasn’t mic’d I wasn’t especially audible). Apologies for the background noise; when we started the interview in Marpeck Commons at CMU were we largely alone. But the area around us soon filled with boisterous students.

This is the first of several full interviews I’ll be posting as this co-creation continues. Why am I putting this out? I figure that if others listen to what Burns has to say it will help identify the key insights needed to build this story. Let me know what stands out for you.

Don’t miss the interview with Bill Barlow who wrote a damning — and neglected — report about the lake.