There is one area of water that has yet to be tested in the courts that will be a major defining area and that is as we go forward in the North, and in every jurisdiction but in northern Alberta as well, and that’s the issue of the aboriginal rights when it comes to water, through treaties, land claims, self-government agreements where it’s been built in through negotiations. We believe that the opportunity is there working collectively to present a very good, effective case to Alberta.
The National Water Strategy, we are of the opinion, we’re one water basin, but every section of the country has issues with water; that there is a leadership role that should be provided by the federal government that is not currently there at a national level. It’s been identified in every jurisdiction. It doesn’t matter if you look at the St. Lawrence, if you look at Ontario where Walkerton happened, you look at southern Alberta where they’re water-stressed and things are going to get worse. We need to have standards. We need to have a national strategy because of issues like resource development, inter-jurisdictional issues, but also international issues as they pertain to the border with the Americans, for example, and where we share common watersheds and the demand under NAFTA and all these other places, agreements where there may be pressures put on our water systems.
We have been active proponents that not only do we need to be organized through Mackenzie River Basin but that Mackenzie River Basin is not separate from the prairie provinces water board area in southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan. They’re linked and they’re tied in Manitoba. Groundwater is an area, for example, that has not been thoroughly mapped across the country. The aquifers, if they’re like the United States, cross a multitude of states; in our case, cross a multitude of provinces and territories. Absolutely, we need a National Water Strategy. Thank you.