Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I'd like to speak on some environmental issues that are of very grave concern to me, and some suggested changes that we, as a government and a Legislature, should be contemplating as we move into the coming months and years.
Mr. Speaker, this morning at 8:30 I had the opportunity to meet with the Mackenzie River Basin Board. That is a group of representatives from Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, as well as aboriginal representatives from each of those jurisdictions. This board was formed nine years ago to look and oversee what is happening in the Mackenzie River basin, which is one of the biggest river basins in the world and it's fed by the Athabasca basin as well as the Peace basin.
Mr. Speaker, I met with this board because I am fundamentally convinced that from what I have seen over the years -- and I've been raising this issue in the House for 11 years -- but in the last couple of years in my time as Minister of the Environment, I am fundamentally convinced that the issue of water is going to be...not is going to be, is more important to us than is oil and gas, than is diamonds, than is gold or uranium.
I met with this board to let them know that as MLA for Thebacha, that I was very, very concerned what was happening in the Mackenzie basin. I'd like to give you some examples of why I am concerned.
The Slave River is down at least 10 feet. I've walked down to the rapids and you can almost cross the river on the rocks that are now exposed. They walked a Cat across the Peace River last summer. The ferry at La Crete could not run because there was no water.