I am obviously a little concerned about the water in the Mackenzie Basin with the tar sands directly upstream from us and the toxic tar ponds that they have in close proximity to the river. We have already been able to notice, and we have seen, that individuals in Fort Chip, by
example, the cancer rates have been going up. I have seen photos myself of incredibly ugly fish out of the river that is just downstream from where the toxic tar ponds are. I don’t think most people in Alberta are that concerned, because the vast majority of the people live upstream and/or are completely outside of the basin altogether. Research I have done has shown that if any one of these toxic tar ponds were to ever break loose, we in the Northwest Territories would be the ones who would suffer the most. That is obviously a concern to me. I think $65,000, when I think that amount, it seems like a lot of money, but we need a transboundary water agreement with some teeth, something that will actually make a difference, not caving in to Alberta completely.
I understand that Alberta has done some things recently. They have changed some of their regulations around water usage which is going to limit the tar sands producers to some degree, but that is only going to be a positive benefit to us if, in fact, their exploration and extraction does not increase from where it is and that glaciers continue to provide plenty of water, which we don’t believe will with the amount that the glaciers have melted. At some point it is going to have a significant impact on the water flowing to the Northwest Territories. Like I said, if any of these toxic ponds were to have a major breach, and I do know that the majority of them are a little ways from the river so it would take quite a bit to get into the river in raw form, but if any of them were to breach and get into the river, we’d have some major, major, major ramifications in the Northwest Territories. It could, in fact, kill the basin. The 2,364 people in Fort Smith would be the first people in the Northwest Territories to experience the negative aspects of a breach of the tar sand toxic ponds into us. Then we’ve got 484 in Fort Res who would obviously be next. We’ve got a significant number of people in Lutselk’e, Ndilo, Dettah, Yellowknife, Hay River and Hay River Reserve who technically live on Great Slave Lake. Great Slave Lake is the fifth largest lake in North America and the deepest one in North America. Just recently, DIAND did some studies out in the East Arm in the deepest part of the lake and were able to identify new species of fish. That’s in the area that’s soon going to be a new national park for the Northwest Territories. If those tailings ponds break, that toxic water will flow into Great Slave Lake and all of us who live around it are going to be negatively affected.
It’s not just going to be us; it’s going to be the people in Fort Providence who are the first people on the river who are going to get hit by the toxic water that’s making its way down to the Beaufort Sea. There are 727 people who live on the shore right in Fort Providence itself. We’ve got 1,216 who live on the shore of the river in Fort Simpson. There
are 122 in Wrigley, 505 in Tulita, 761 in Norman Wells and 557 in Fort Good Hope. All these people are going to be severely affected by the toxic water flowing down our river. That river is the lifeblood of the Mackenzie Valley and if we can’t fish in it, if we can’t hunt alongside it, if the animals that are relying on the river to survive are poisoned by the toxic ponds, we, as 44,000 people in the Territories, all lose. Those aren’t the only ones. We’ve got a couple communities along the river that aren’t on the Mackenzie River itself like Tsiigehtchic, Fort McPherson, Aklavik; the last two are on the Peel River. But ultimately the Mackenzie is still a lifeblood for them as well and if this leaks we’ve got a problem...Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk are two of the last ones that are going to be affected by any leaking of these toxic tar ponds.
The reason that I bring all that up is because $65,000 doesn’t sound like an awful lot of money. How can we ensure that whatever we develop by way of the transboundary water agreement is going to have the teeth required to actually protect the 44,000 people who live in the Northwest Territories? We don’t sound like much. I don’t think Alberta is really that concerned about us. I think they think about their bitumen production and their extraction of that stuff from the tar sands and I think they think to themselves, no biggie, it’s only 44,000 people, billions of dollars, everything will be alright. But I look around this room and there isn’t one person who isn’t going to be affected.
To the Minister: What are we doing and how are we ensuring that our transboundary water agreement will have the teeth required to protect the people of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Chair.