Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to put my questions in English, but the witnesses may respond in the language of their choice.
I'm fascinated by the concept of legal rights and protections for rivers. I view rivers as animate objects that should exist on a food chain higher than us. We rely on them, and they don't really rely on us. It would be fine without humans around, actually. I spend a lot of time on rivers and lakes. When I think about all of the life and depth under me, I'm always fascinated with how much I'm physically on top of but spiritually underneath.
Can you expand on the concept of rights for these large bodies of animate objects, legal or otherwise? In the last session, we had a meeting with an oil executive who was polluting massive sections of the Athabasca River. It was having a devastating impact on the health of first nations people and others.
Thank you.