Thank you.
I am here on behalf of the Forum for Leadership on Water, or FLOW. I will be offering a few observations regarding the provisions related to the establishment of the Canada water agency.
FLOW has been working for over 15 years to help secure the health of Canada's fresh water by bringing together past political leaders, former senior officials from federal and provincial governments, and staff of respected research institutes and non-governmental organizations.
I will say up front that FLOW has been advocating for the agency for over five years. We are strong proponents of increased co-operation and collaboration across the Canadian water sector.
Individual FLOW members, sometimes while they're within government and sometimes from the outside, have been directly involved in either negotiating or administering virtually every major interjurisdictional water agreement in Canada over the past several decades.
Several of our members are also very active in building consensus between indigenous peoples and others across the sector.
Today the Canadian water sector is facing three major inflection points that make enhanced collaboration more important and more urgent than ever.
First, it's become clear that climate change is having and will continue to have much more significant economic, ecological and social impacts than were previously anticipated. At the same time, society is becoming much more aware of indigenous and other social rights.
As a result, transboundary water stewardship is becoming more complex than ever. We definitely need an entity to bring together the various federal, provincial, indigenous and local partners to set targets and take concrete action.
There are currently over 3,000 water employees scattered across more than 25 federal departments, and well over 100,000 more water employees in other governments, watershed organizations as well as municipal, agricultural and industrial groups. Meeting the emerging challenges facing the water sector will require unprecedented collaboration.
We believe the agency strikes an appropriate balance between supporting decision-makers at all levels and fully respecting all legal and constitutional mandates.
Other advantages of a mainly coordinating mandate within the federal system will include dealing more effectively with fragmentation, gaps and overlaps and minimizing unrealistic new program expectations.
FLOW, along with more than 50 other freshwater NGOs, was very active during three years of public consultation leading up to the proposed legislation. We believe those consultations identified most of the freshwater issues on which improved collaboration will yield significant societal benefits.
Regarding the bill itself, we believe the rationale spelled out in the whereas clauses appropriately defines the need. We also believe the rest of the content appropriately balances the requirement for clarity with leaving a sufficient flexibility for the agency to evolve in constructive ways over time.
I will be happy to respond to any questions any of you may have.
Thank you.