Merci, Monsieur le Président. I raised the issue of discharges from the Alberta tar sands tailings in our last sitting. I was very pleased to hear the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources say in the House, on December 7th, "we're not supportive of this presently or even in the future." By the way, I am still waiting for the research on the impacts of potential discharges that the Minister promised back then.
It is hard to get a sense of the scale of these tailings ponds. They cover 220 square kilometres and the volume would be the equivalent of Olympic swimming pools that would stretch from Edmonton to Melbourne, Australia. These tailings are a mix of sand, salt, clay, and residual oils and solvents and toxic compounds known to cause cancer and other health effects. If released untreated, the tailings would kill fish and other aquatic life, and probably people too.
The federal government has announced it is going to develop regulations under the Fisheries Act to allow discharges from these tailings ponds. Discharges, whether controlled or not, are inevitable so I am not opposed in-principle but these wastes must be treated first to an acceptable standard. However, there are no known cost-effective treatment options that are commercially available or that have even been field tested yet. Even if technology was available, there are also the issues of cost, what to do with any sludge or by-products, and the impact on water, aquatic life, and people. We are downstream of this mess, Mr. Speaker.
GNWT has been strangely quiet about all of this until I raised it in the House. I have no idea what resources have been dedicated to this effort, whether we have the necessary expertise and what work has been done to engage Indigenous peoples and the public. This government owes it to our residents and the environment to tell us what it is doing with regard to the development of tar sands discharge regulations. I will have questions later today for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources about GNWT's involvement and position on discharges from the tar sands. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.