Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, water pollution has a wide-ranging impact on our lives, the health and well-being of the people we serve and the economy of Canada. I know from the personal experience I have had dealing with my home community of Fort McPherson, the whole area of contamination is on our doorstep. Talking about THMs and also the community of Aklavik, where there is a doctor's request for a total review and testing of all residents of Aklavik to look at H. pylori, which is a carcinogen which is in the water system of that community.
Mr. Speaker, I just received a letter from the Inuvik Regional Health Board to the Department of Public Works stating that the department is not complying or has received a non-compliance order from the Department of Health with regard to the Tsiigehtchic water supply. Yet, Mr. Speaker, these toxins come through the air, flow through our water systems and also are a major cost and effect the well-being of our people.
With regard to the cancers and other diseases, many of the toxins are affecting the well-being and lives of the people that we serve. Knowingly, in most cases, it is much too late, people have already died. While Northerners are affected by the quality of our drinking water, the most important aspect is to ensure that the ineffectiveness of managing our water resources and to ensuring that we do all that we can to protect the water commodity and the resources we have.
The greatest people who are affected by this are the children and our elderly. Most of all, the effects it has on the community as a whole knowing that this has a long-term impact on the community and knowing what that is going to be.
Mr. Speaker, this government needs to take more responsibility to clean our drinking water and to ensure that our water resources are protected and that we are living up to the standards and conditions that we set for ourselves, the Canadian drinking guidelines that we have. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.