Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Most of us tend to think that the natural environment is good for us, but it is not always true. Our elders and experienced hunters know that the land feeds us and nurtures, but it can also be dangerous. Knowledge of dangerous areas is passed on from generation to generation. Of course, our elders have no experience with radon gas, which is invisible and has no taste or smell, and it has never bothered them. We know that radon is found at low levels almost everywhere and it’s not dangerous that way, but in high concentrations over time radon can cause lung cancer.
Radon comes from the natural decay of uranium, so it is radioactive. It is very diluted in outside air but it can build up where there’s little or no airflow. That includes buildings with basements and closed-in crawlspaces.
The good news is homes and buildings in the NWT and Nunavut have had the lowest concentrations of radon gas in Canada. One reason may be permafrost, which is a good barrier against radon. On top of that, most homes built by our housing corporations have vented foundations so the danger of radon exposure in them is very low, so low in fact that the NWT Housing Corporation doesn’t bother to test for radon or monitor radon levels.
We all know temperatures have slowly risen in the NWT over the past few decades and some permafrost is melting. It might be prudent to make sure that radon levels are still very low, especially where some homes and buildings have enclosed foundations. Testing is no big deal and it’s cheap to do. Test kits only cost about $50. It might be a good idea for the NWT Housing Corporation to make them available or do some spot checks around the territory. I think public awareness could be much improved.
Precautions to control our radon are also easily taken. For example, allow more air to flow through enclosed foundations and seal cracks and openings around pipes and drains.
To sum up, we have enough people getting cancer as it is without radon being a factor. It doesn’t take much to make sure radon stays out of the picture, so let’s do it.
I’ll have a few questions for the Housing Minister.
