Thank you. Honourable Members, Mr. Speaker. I must say, Mr. Speaker, that the response from the territorial government official is to be commended. I contacted the Honourable Dennis Patterson, Minister of Health, around noon on August the 27, shortly after returning from air survey.
I was impressed with how quickly our cabinet swung into action as the acting government leader, the Honourable John Pollard, called a meeting of the Ministers to deal with this matter.
I was also glad my honourable colleague from Nahendeh was available to attend the meeting and participate in the coordination of this government's response. I am aware that the Minister of Renewable Resources, the Honourable Titus Allooloo and the Minister of Transportation, the Honourable Tony Whitford, acted swiftly to travel to the site and make observations of the damage. One thing has troubled me about our government's procedures in this regard, however. I was informed by the acting government leader that none of the Ministers were aware of the incident until after my August 25 telephone call to Mr. Patterson.
It seems that while there may be well-developed channels of communication information for environmental crises to agencies and officials, assistance for advising the responsible Ministers may have been lacking. I intend to explore the communications procedure both within the relevant territorial departments and with the federal agencies in question over the next several days.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to conclude my statement by commenting that, in my view, neither the federal agencies nor N.T.C.L. have given this matter appropriate attention over the days that followed. I am aware that there has been inadequate consultation with hunters and trappers from my region with respect to the observations made by the spill areas. I am also concerned that the attitude of both the federal agencies and the transportation company has been to purposely down-play the potential seriousness of the spill.
It seems that the company has tried to come across as saying it was only a relatively small spill and it will all evaporate. So it is no big deal. Wrong, Mr. Speaker. This is a big deal. Not only for this government, which will be faced with a series of difficult decisions about the approval of northern development of the years to come, but it is also a big deal for traditional aboriginal people who hope to rely on the land, waters and animals the Creator entrusted us to look after. We have been the custodians of this land for centuries before there was ever a transportation company or before there was a federal government.
The apparent lack of concern shown by these parties and their willingness to treat this matter as a minor everyday risk offends the role that we play as curators and defenders of our natural surroundings. I will be urging our government to follow up on this issue with additional testing and with the establishment of a firm agreement and regulations geared towards ensuring a more adequate response to such environmental crises. Thank you Mr. Speaker.
---Applause