Thank you very much. Good afternoon, everyone.
First and foremost, I'd like to thank our Creator, my elders and my community members.
I'd also like to thank you for inviting me to speak to the committee today.
Today I sit on my Treaty 8 homeland as the chief of Mikisew Cree First Nation. We are the largest first nation downstream from the world's largest resource-extractive industrial development in the northeastern part of what is now known as Alberta.
For as long as the sun shines, grass grows and the rivers flow—this is what we were promised in Treaty 8. It was understood by our ancestors that this was about the spirit and intent to recognize a nation-to-nation relationship. Our way of life and who we are as Mikisew people depend on water for all aspects of our traditional cultural inherent rights. It connects us to our ancestors. It is what connects us as human beings. For us, water is boss.
Our elders remind us that, before we are born into this world, we have lived our first nine months in water. It sustains and gives us life. We are dependent on water. Without water, we will die. Water holds memory that is transferred to us. That is our relationality. As Mikisew people, we rely on our local water sources on a daily basis as we hunt, harvest and fish as intended in our promised treaty.
I will speak about how Canada got into this situation, and I will talk about fresh water as it relates to Mikisew in two ways: its quality and its impact on our health; and its quantity and its impact on our culture.
For decades, Canada has participated in the approval of the oil sands industry, mine by mine, with no mechanism for managing the cumulative effects. Canada and the Alberta Energy Regulator have authorized the withdrawal and use of water from the Athabasca River and the accumulation of truly staggering volumes of semi-solid toxic waste.
Canada told all of us that they would find a solution to tailings. The government has issued three federal reports saying that they would find a solution to the tailings. Thirty years later, there is none.
In our traditional territory, there are now at least 1.8 trillion litres of process-affected water. This is highly toxic liquid waste that is formed by various industrial processes. That number continues to grow daily, and the waste in those ponds would fill enough swimming pools to reach three-quarters of the way around the earth. Tailings ponds are the largest industrial waste site on the planet.
Industry is telling us that their best option is to treat and release all the dirty water, and what they're not telling you is that their plan for all those tailings is to put them in pits, cover them with water and walk away. Is this truly an option? For whom? Industry? We are being told that the same two levels of government that approved the industry and then turned a blind eye to our concerns about health and accumulating waste will approve these regulations.
Canada is trying to work with us on solving the issues, but it's facing increasing pressure from industry. Industry's approach does not meet Mikisew Cree standards. It will not protect the Athabasca River. We say, “No way.” We say that Canada cannot turn the Athabasca oil sands into Canada's largest hazardous waste disposal.
While we suffer the disproportionate impacts of industrial development, other non-first nation governments benefit from the development. Our traditional territory continues to be altered and extracted from at a fast pace, which has impacted and continues to impact our watersheds. I have witnessed our watersheds, which I once drank from or swam in as a child, become so polluted that we are now fearful of drinking and/or swimming.
I have witnessed large sores on the moose and fish we hunt and harvest. I've witnessed friends and family fighting or dying from cancers that we believe were caused by naphthenic acids or carcinogens in our watersheds.
In the last nine months, we lost two of our previous chiefs, who succumbed to cancers: the late chiefs Peter Powder and Steve Courtoreille. Our nation is grieving. We're not only grieving friends and family, but we're grieving the impacts on our lands and water.
The health impacts go beyond cancer and other diseases. Our people don't use the land anymore because they just don't trust the water. This is a direct cultural impact. We are seeing increasing rates of opioids, addiction and mental health issues because of the water crisis we face—