Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on the banks of the Hay River where it enters into Great Slave Lake by Hay River, there's about 40 million litres of fuel stored in barges, single-hulled old barges. We're not sure of their condition, we're not sure if they've been certified, inspected, but they're on the waterway that leads directly into Great Slave Lake, are on the lake down to the Mackenzie into the Arctic Ocean. I consider this to be a significant environmental hazard and a very high-risk operation. For whatever reason, it has happened. On land it would be unequivocally denied. It would be illegal under our laws and under our regulation. In fact, on land, we've just increased the requirements for storage of fuels.

Homeowners now have to pull their tanks out of the basements; they have to be double walled. Industry has to have higher standards of storage. Yet on water, we're forced to stand helplessly by because the federal government has jurisdiction and authority but no regulation. All they can offer are suggestions in terms of the storage. Is there an emergency measures plan? Is there a spill plan? How do you respond to a spill if there is one, God forbid, and it goes under the ice and starts working its way to the lake and downriver?

The federal government is moving towards double-hulled barges, but these barges have had their use changed from barges to storage facilities. It is a circumstance that not only we struggle with, but the people in Baker Lake woke up to find the same circumstance in their community as well. When we say the federal government has responsibility, they do. But we can't count on the federal government to look after our best interests and we see this in many cases. This is a very clear case in point. This is a hazard to the waterway; it's a hazard to the community. If there's a fire, if something happens around Hay River, what is to be done? How often are the tanks dipped? We know that accidents happen because NTCL had a punctured barge that leaked fuel all the way from Tuk to Kugluktuk before it was discovered, releasing we're not sure how much fuel. So we have a circumstance here that is high risk and, in my mind, unacceptable and hopefully will not happen again. Later today I will be asking the Minister questions about the plans in terms of emergency response and monitoring. Thank you.

---Applause.