Mr. Speaker, I rise today to defend a lake in my country, and what a lake!
Lake Winnipeg is the 12th largest freshwater lake in the world and the sixth largest lake in Canada. It is the third largest lake located entirely within Canada, and number one in the hearts of Manitobans.
This Parliament has a responsibility to Manitoba, to Canada as a whole, and to the planet quite frankly, to protect Lake Winnipeg. It is a superb lake and a world class tourist destination. Its watershed and drainage basin includes parts of four provinces and four U.S. states. The Lake Winnipeg drainage basin is nearly one million square kilometres in size and is home to five million people. It has a large fishing industry.
The state of North Dakota has embarked on a project to discharge water from Devils Lake into nearby Sheyenne River. The Sheyenne River flows into the Red River and subsequently north into Lake Winnipeg.
The Governments of Canada and Manitoba are deeply concerned about the possible threats to Canadian waters posed by this project, which is nearing completion. We are concerned about possible effects on the ecological integrity of our waters and the economic consequences that could be caused by diverting Devils Lake water into the Red River watershed.
Let me tell the House why the Government of Canada is so vigorously engaged in efforts to resolve the Devils Lake outlet dispute. Thanks to the leadership of the Prime Minister, the White House is engaged in exploring possible solutions with us. Let me tell the House why Canada is so committed to finding a solution that protects our environment and reflects the spirit of the Boundary Waters Treaty.
This project is proceeding without a thorough environmental review. We believe that the Devils Lake outlet should not operate until appropriate safeguards are in place. There are good reasons to be concerned with the outlet currently being built by North Dakota.
Devils Lake has no natural inlet or outlet, meaning that it is isolated from the broader Red River basin and has been for approximately the last 1,000 years.
Indeed, in the 1940s the lake was essentially dry meaning that all of the larger orders of life, such as the fish now in the lake, have been introduced by people since that time. Canada is very concerned about the possible transfer of species which may now be living in Devils Lake but which are flowing to the Red River and Lake Winnipeg.
Such biota transfer can have devastating environmental and economic impacts. Canadians and Americans are well acquainted with the harm caused by alien invasive species in the Great Lakes by the introduction of foreign species such as zebra mussels.
A commitment to the principle of precaution means that we must be careful. We must ensure that we have done the science and have the necessary safeguards in place before the outlet starts operations, if the outlet is the solution. Once alien invasive species enter a new system and establish themselves the damage is done and there is no undoing it.
The science concerning Devils Lake biota is insufficient, a view shared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who have identified a number of species of concern for baseline monitoring. In fact, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers remains concerned about biota transfer even if the state of North Dakota apparently is not.
The Army Corps of Engineers is developing a plan and processing biota sampling in Devils Lake focused on biota of concern and designed to identify the presence of species that could spread to other areas of the Red River watershed. The gaps in the science need to be filed in order to understand the full extent of the risks posed by the biota in Devils Lake and how best to address that risk.
The Canadian position is clear. We must ensure we have sound science, determine the mitigation that is required and then install the necessary safeguards to protect the watershed against any additional possible biota transfer. Canada is also concerned about the discharge of poor quality water into the broader basin.
Canada and the United States have agreed to a set of water quality objectives. Environment Canada monitors the chemistry of the Red River as it crosses the border at our station at Emerson, Manitoba. My department has increased the frequency of monitoring at the border. Right now monitoring is done every minute.
It is my goal to support Canada's efforts by ensuring that we have the best information possible regarding any changes to water quality. As well, I have announced that we are enhancing monitoring and data gathering efforts to ensure detailed information on water chemistry, and plant and animal life available for Lake Winnipeg and the Red River.
Devils Lake water is very salty. It has a high concentration of totally dissolved solids, including sulphates. Discharging this water into the Sheyenne River and Red River system will increase the number of times that IJC water quality objectives are exceeded at the border and will likely violate the Boundary Waters Treaty.
In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has indicated there would be increased loads of phosphorous and nitrogen in Lake Winnipeg from Devils Lake waters at the time when the depletion of lake oxygen is a recognized problem. In fact, the additional phosphorous from Devils Lake, as much as 40,000 pounds per year, could create a thick layer of algae on nearly 10 miles of Lake Winnipeg beaches.
It is important to remember that everything from Devils Lake will ultimately end up in Lake Winnipeg. In this respect, the threats to Canada are very different when compared to downstream communities in North Dakota and Minnesota. While the water passes through those states, it accumulates in Lake Winnipeg. This is why Canada is so committed to pursuing a solution that will protect our environment, reflecting the spirit of the Boundary Waters Treaty.
The treaty calls on both countries to cooperate in preventing transboundary water pollution before it occurs. Whether it is through the International Joint Commission or another mechanism, although IJC references are preferred solutions, any other mechanism consistent with the treaty fits our goal to work toward a solution that addresses Canada's environmental concerns to protect the Sheyenne River, the Red River, Lake Winnipeg and the Boundary Waters Treaty.
I therefore appeal to my colleagues' sense of responsibility so that Parliament may, with one voice, work to find the right solution for the Sheyenne River, the Red River, Lake Winnipeg and the treaty that, for over a century, has served the two countries so well.