Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I also stand up and talk of my unconditional, full support of this motion and the fundamental right to water by all Canadians, all human beings.
Just getting to the water issue, Mr. Speaker, as it relates to the NWT and getting back to some of the...We could throw a lot of statistics out there to how much water we do get from the South. The Mackenzie River basin is one of the largest watershed basins in Canada, or it is the largest in Canada. It has a long history of supporting First Nations for many hundreds of years. At the Keepers of the Water Conference, the first of its kind that was held in Fort Simpson in 2006 by First Nations groups and organizations, they basically came up with a fundamental principle that water is a sacred gift and is an essential element that sustains and connects all life and is not a commodity bought or sold. I think that's all we need to know, Mr. Speaker. It's as simple as that. It just connects everything and it sustains everything and there is no argument about it.
I think where the argument lies is in the right to water and who has that fundamental right and who is going to regulate that right. The inter-jurisdictional boundaries, the agreements, have really no place when you are talking about something as fundamental as the right to clean and fresh water.
With that, we have to recognize what the indigenous people here have been telling us. They have already seen changes in the lands, the water levels and the flow rates, receding shorelines, depleting fish habitats and populations. They all share that common trait that they recognize it's due to the fact that we are not managing and not protecting our water in the basin. It's, most notably, due to oil and gas exploration and we know that. The demands for water and energy coincide with each other. There is a high demand for both. Unfortunately, you can't have both. You can have water or energy or use water to develop energy. I think here in the North, we are offering choices to the world that we can do both in one sustainable development model and use water as energy as opposed to depleting water to generate energy as what they are doing in the Athabasca region, Mr. Speaker.
I just wanted to make that point known and keep everybody aware that I hope gatherings or First Nations organizations and other world wildlife organizations that are geared towards conservation of water and water quality that it carries on and keeps moving forward just as many conferences as we see on oil and gas coming up every month, every week and everyday all over Canada. The importance of water here has to be right next to it on the priority list of this government and the federal government. I know it's on the First Nations priority list and always has been.
With that, I would just like to close by saying there is an open boat here today and I would be really disappointed and dismayed if I saw any Member here not fully endorse a motion as important as this one. With that, I hope we can all stand and really join hands on this one, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
---Applause