I'm Toni Mancini I'm a councillor of District 6 and the current Deputy Mayor of Halifax Regional Municipality. I live in Dartmouth obviously and near Lake Charles and spend a lot of time on our lakes.

I grew up in Cape Breton and when I moved to Dartmouth I realized that the lakes are our connection to our communities here. We have something very special here and its whats called The City of Lakes for a reason, not just the many many lakes but the lake that we're on right here- Lake Banook that connects to Lake Micmac that connects to Lake Charles is special in that it puts Dartmouth and the HRM on the map!

Because of the paddling that takes place right here! I have heard about people who have grown up in Dartmouth paddling and they are life long friends even though they are old guys like me know they talk about their friendships and living on the lake. And so the world has changed and the environment has changed and a lot has happened, and we have to do everything possible to keep and make sure our lakes are safe and clean, and we have to maybe change our behavior as individuals, as residents but also as businesses as we develop around the lakes. So tonight's [event - Town Hall] is very important, our lakes are very important!