The creation of a federal panel to look into the future of the Trent-Severn Waterway can only be seen as a feather in the cap of Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton.

Stanton started the whole federal conversation about the waterway last year when he won support for a private member's bill asking the government to review the waterway's operation and plot a course to rebuild infrastructure and promote usage. It was one of his first acts as an MP.

Federal Environment Minister John Baird's announcement Friday in Peterborough appears to be a direct result of Stanton's efforts.

The six-member panel, including former Orillia city councillor Doug Downey, will consult with the public, users and government to determine ways to ensure the long-term effectiveness and sustainability of the waterway.

It has the potential to have a significant positive impact on the region.

The make-up of the panel is, of course, political. With at least three loyal Conservatives, the panel has the usual whiff of patronage. Unremarkable except that Stephen Harper seemed to be promising a different kind of government. The risk in politicizing the panel is that the Harper government will get the recommendations the Harper government wants, whether or not they are the right steps for the waterway.

Still, the panelists appear to be a very capable mix.

Their challenge now is two-fold:

1. They must identify the problems plaguing the waterway, most of which have to do with decades of neglect, due largely to cutbacks.

2. They must find cost-effective and practical solutions.

Of the two jobs, the first is easy, the second daunting.

But the Trent-Severn Waterway is a national treasure. Hopefully the work of this panel will lead the government to start treating it as such.

Packet and Times; Editorial