Thank you for the question.
I believe there are three primary areas that could have a greater federal approach.
One was previously mentioned by experts before this committee. It is improvement in water prediction. The provinces and territories need help. Some big, rich provinces have excellent computer models that do this. The Americans run everything on supercomputers; we don't. Some provinces are using Excel spreadsheets for their flood predictions. We as a country need to do better on that. We'll save ourselves money —20 to one—by doing that.
The second is transboundary waters. We don't handle them very well. We have not had severe transboundary stress in this country. I believe we're headed for it this year, in the west and in the north. We will see further issues with the Americans. Eighty per cent of Canadians live along waters shared with the United States. We have to look after that relationship very carefully, as well as our interprovincial relationships, to make sure we remain a peaceful and friendly federation.
As the final one, last week I spent the morning with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations in Saskatchewan. They continue to have profound and severe water problems, including with source water protection and water supply, and there are other issues for some communities. They also have a lot of ideas about solutions. I think more engagement with them would benefit everyone and would certainly help them find ways through the current crisis they have.