Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about a serious concern that has to do with a number of different issues rolled into one. This is regarding the forest in the Liard Valley. Recently the Liard Valley has been viewed as potentially developing renewable resources, hopefully for sustainable economic development. A couple of weeks ago, when I was touring in that area, I was in Nahanni Butte and the plane from Deh Cho Air picked me up and flew me over Fort Liard. Eight minutes over Fort Liard is the British Columbia border, and the Yukon border kind of veers into there too. So we have the BC border very close to Fort Liard. The pilot wanted to fly me in there to show me what the BC side looks like.
What I saw was very shocking because what they are doing on the BC side is, they are clear-cutting. They have a big sawmill in Fort Nelson, and they take the spruce for lumber. Then there is a chopstick factory there, as well, that takes the birch and the poplar. So they are going into an area and cutting everything down. There are big clear spots all over that valley.
It is really concerning the people in Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte. If any development of the forest happens, they do not want to see this development happen in their area. I raise this today because I feel it is very crucial and I do not know if the Government of the NWT has any prior arrangement with BC, especially on the environmental impacts of such -- I call it -- destruction of the natural environment. Mahsi.