I was not going to go into the federal role in detail because I know that somebody else tomorrow is going to be speaking to that. I think there is a role through the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. As well, of course, there's a trigger with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on water quality. There is also sometimes an opportunity for the toxic substances with the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, as well as, of course, for the federal role for the first nations people and transboundary waters.
There are a lot of ways in which the federal government can get involved. What interests me the most is the work that has been done by Natural Resources Canada, and a Dr. Alfonso Rivera, in groundwater aquifer monitoring. There have been a number of aquifers monitored across Canada. There's a plan to do about 30 of them. One of them that has been identified is within the Athabasca oil sands region, but that has not yet been tackled.
I would hope that perhaps there will be an opportunity for the federal government to work probably with the Alberta Geological Survey. The Alberta Geological Survey has been doing some great work as well, but they are also limited in their resources. There is so much work that needs to be done. If we could get additional resources for monitoring and learning more about our groundwater aquifers in the oil sands region—not just in the Athabasca area but also in the Peace River and the Cold Lake area—I think this would be really valuable.