Thank you.
Good morning, everyone. My name is Lucas King, and I'm the director of the territorial planning unit at Grand Council Treaty #3.
I certainly appreciate the invitation to be here today and to work together with the federal government on the critical issues of water regulation and emergency management in Treaty No. 3. I'd like to thank the committee members and other participants for having the Grand Council represented.
Several weeks ago, we were asked by one of our local MPs to share our experiences with and knowledge about water in Treaty No. 3. Over the past two years, to say the least, things have been extreme in Treaty No. 3. Last year, the territory experienced one of the lowest water levels on record. This resulted in well-known drought and fire emergencies across the territory. I wanted to share some photos, but due to time constraints and translation, we couldn't get them in front of you this morning. However, one photo we would have showcased is of the 10-foot difference between the water levels this past year and the year before.
Climate change is creating increasingly unpredictable water levels, making it very difficult for emergency management planning and damage mitigation in Treaty No. 3. This past year, in contrast to the year before, we had large amounts of snowfall and rain throughout the winter season. Then, in the spring, there was a lot of flooding that damaged land, water treatment plants, docks, bridges and homes, leaving communities in Treaty No. 3 with impeded access to food, medical appointments and work. Evacuations and loss of sacred sites to flooding also impacted Treaty No. 3 communities and directly impacted their inherent and treaty rights.
Through all of this, lingering impacts of the global pandemic weighed incredibly heavily, compounding the struggles people faced, including their ability to evacuate and be with family or in safe spaces through everything.
The second photo I wanted to share was on harmonizing governance structures. October 3 is a special day in Treaty No. 3. Today specifically marks 149 years since the signing of Treaty No. 3. We are coming up on 150 years in 2023, a year to celebrate that special and sacred relationship. It's our responsibility as treaty partners to work together in relation to shared lands in Canada, because that's the essence of treaty land. We have a responsibility to harmonize our governance and work together as brothers in that shared capacity.
Modelling provides a great tool for understanding a basin when we talk about water regulation and quantity. However, in the last two years, especially with the impacts of climate change, we've seen that our understanding certainly needs to be more holistic, and our decision-making structures need to reflect this. It's only through the harmonization of governments and decision-making protocols that we'll be better able to manage our own responsibilities for, and relationship to, water in Treaty No. 3.
That doesn't mean managing water; it means managing ourselves and understanding the protocols between both governments in terms of what water looks like in Treaty No. 3. We at the Grand Council are always going to be willing to co-operate with any level of government or any treaty partner because of that sacred relationship. We are willing to share our knowledge, experience and expertise in order to find solutions to the issues we face together.
Today, as we see it and as we move forward, we need to harmonize those governance structures, because, for the last two years, Treaty No. 3 communities have been the most affected by these water regulation impacts. The communities also have the least amount of say in terms of water regulation and protocols. It's all within that western structure. We really do need to take a hard look at how we manage ourselves, what our principles of decision-making are and what our governance structures are, moving forward, so we can take that more holistic look. As we found out through the global pandemic, we can only work on something like this together as a whole. Climate change and water regulation are the same, as they don't sit in just one jurisdiction. They connect everywhere.
With that, I really appreciate the opportunity to be here today and share our experiences from Grand Council with you. I'm looking forward to the rest of the session. Thank you.