Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, will be supporting the motion. With regard to the whole area of water management and ensuring we have a say in the process, I think we do have a tool. We have to continue to build on the Mackenzie basin agreement, which was signed by five jurisdictions which includes Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC, Northwest Territories and Yukon. I think it's important that we do more to monitor the quality of the water that flows in this basin. More importantly, ensuring that industrial development that does take place in the basin is

monitored in such a way that any heavy metals or contaminants are avoided from spilling into a water basin.

I think the Mackenzie River basin is unique in the context that it's one of the larger basins in the world, but, more importantly, development in most basins have originated from the mouth of the river going up to the headwaters of those river systems around the world. In our case, it's the other way around. The developments are happening in the headwaters and flowing downstream through the Northwest Territories and back out to the Arctic Ocean. With those developments happening upstream, that's the concern we have to be aware of.

I think, more importantly, the Minister touched on the whole area of monitoring and the quality and quantity of water that is out there. I had an opportunity to serve on the Gwich'in Management Water Board and I found it very alarming that the federal government cut back a number of years ago on all these water monitoring stations throughout the Territories. The only one that we are aware of that affected the Mackenzie Delta area was a water station that was up at Snake River which is in the Peel River watershed. Again, through these monitoring systems, we have to do a better job of monitoring, realizing that we are seeing more heavy metals in our fish, in the whales in the Arctic Ocean, which feed at the mouth of the Mackenzie River. Yet, these things are becoming more...(inaudible)...development out there.

Mr. Speaker, we also have to realize that we have to take advantage of the agreements that we do have. I did mention the Mackenzie River basin agreement. We have land claim agreements which clearly spell out aboriginal water rights, which talk about the quality and quantity, rate of flow, compensation. Those things are already in legislation. We have to vote on those. We have to implement those agreements, but, more importantly, continue to build on those types of agreements.

Mr. Speaker, we also have to ensure there our co-management systems work in conjunction with whatever we do in whatever. Whatever we do in water, we have to ensure that the land use plans conform to the water management agreements and vice versa. Also, we have to keep in mind that the land use plans that are being developed ensure that we have protected areas in certain water bodies or water bodies that flow into water bodies, that we have a system that co-exists with other agencies, boards, and also ensuring that the general public is involved in this.

Again, like I mentioned earlier, we have seen the affects by industrial development over the last 30 years in the Mackenzie basin by way of the Bennett dam. We talk about industrial development such as what is going on in Fort McMurray. There is major concern around the Norman Wells development with regard to the Mackenzie River years ago and that development still exists.

More importantly, there is a lot of heavy metals being explored with regard to gold, silver, uranium and these things also used water with regard to those developments and again what happens to the water once it's processed through the mills and also where they end up. Again, we do have to ensure that we have an arrangement with all stakeholders. I know it's important that we do involve industry, the general public, aboriginal groups, more importantly ensuring that our governments work closer together to sign off these agreements. There have been only two agreements signed off between the Yukon and Northwest Territories. There have been drafts done up between Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. Again, they did not commit themselves to signing any authority away. I think we have to realize it's more than authority; it's a mechanism to ensure that we have to safeguard the water sources that affect not only our jurisdiction but five other jurisdictions in Canada.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I will be supporting this motion. Thank you.

---Applause