(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is not directly on the pollution control. The High Arctic is very large and vast, and it is very hard to do a study. The best time would be in spring or summer, because it is very hard in wintertime when it is dark all day long.
At the time when they were first established, they used to do studies on old campsites, or mining potential. Those were the studies that were conducted. There is a lot of stuff that was left behind. I am aware that the territorial government will not have sufficient funding to do environmental clean up, even if there was a study done. There are old barrels, old shacks, and old batteries. There are quite a number of those that were left behind. If they are close to the communities, they are slowly cleaning up the communities, but for some places that are further from the communities they are very hard to clean up, especially without funding. I know, for the sites that are close to the communities, the federal government is starting to be more responsive to what the communities want in terms of cleaning up. At first it was Grise Fiord, there were weather stations that were put there, and they left behind a lot of garbage.
Now adays, since we seem to be able to function with funding, I know all those are dangerous to the environment. They seem to be only more concerned about the sites that are close to the community. They cannot say, mining companies, or whatever, will come up to you and say they are damaging the environment. They are mainly concerned that it will require money to clean up.
In the very near future, there are sites where studies are being conducted. We have to be more careful to make sure that they are not damaging the environment. We are going to have to protect our land, whether it be the water or on the land. There is more pollution now than before. I think, one of the hardest is pollution control, because we cannot pinpoint where, exactly, it is coming from. We are more observant to the pollutants on land or on water, but if it is air pollution, even if I tried to explain it, because a lot of it, the air pollution, is coming from overseas. The people who work for Environment Canada are trying to pinpoint or find out exactly where it is coming from, and I think they can advise us now as to how fast it is going to our land. There are a lot of people who are working on it, they go up to Alert. In Alert I have seen their equipment that they use to do the study. I have gone there more than once. In Mould Bay, they also have equipment, and they have said there might be danger, pollution wise. So, in the very near future, if there is pollution on land, in water, and the air, if you put them together, there is going to be damage to our environment. The federal and territorial government should have a better working relationship to advise the people outside of Canada how the environment ... (Translation ends)...much will be done. We actually have to do the work, and it should be done in the very near future.
Now adays, the people who reside in the High Arctic, not just in the High Arctic, I presume that maybe through the wildlife our elders know how it used to be in regards to the wildlife. While they are still alive they have seen the changes with the wildlife through their parts, such as liver, or the skin, or meat. They have noticed that they are different now. They cannot pinpoint what causes this. However, they think that it is because the environment is not being protected carefully enough, whether it be through land or water. That is what they think, because it was never like that before, but presently, that is what they think is the cause. The federal and territorial government will have to work more closely, and more carefully with the people outside of Canada. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.