Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am fully in support of the motion and its importance to the people who we represent. I would like to thank the mover and the seconder for their work and committee's work on bringing the motion forward to the House today.
Much has been said of the importance of water. I know history will tell us wars have actually been fought over water and it's not completely inconceivable that some day, someone who doesn't have water is going to come here looking to take our water from us. This is a very important matter, Mr. Speaker.
Also some of my colleagues have been talking about some of the developments in adjacent jurisdictions where the impact on water or the ecosystem, such as development in the Fort McMurray area with the tar
sands, maybe a hydro project on the Slave River, things like this that impact residents and people who live here in the Northwest Territories can't be taken lightly by this government. We have to get a seat at the table. We have to get a seat at the table. We have to demand a seat at the table and we have to be there to stand up for the people who we are here to represent. I think oftentimes we take a backseat to the federal government. Mr. Speaker, the federal government doesn't live in the Northwest Territories. We live here. We should be responsible for our environment. We should be responsible for our water. We should be able to look after our own affairs. Again, we take a backseat far too often to the federal government who try to take control of us from Ottawa. It's time again. The government is moving in the right direction, but we haven't gotten to where we need to get to. We aren't even close, Mr. Speaker.
Again, I just wanted to say I do fully support the motion that is before us and I echo the comments my colleagues made earlier. Mahsi.
---Applause