Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Just to continue, in some ways, in regard to the last line of questioning to the representative from Transport, it's concerning to me to think about how, in particular, the work of Transport in the north could affect the environment. It's no secret that climate change has had disproportionate effects on the Arctic north.
I also want to mention in particular, just as a friendly reminder and as a courtesy to the representative from Transport—and this is actually currently an issue in the House as well—the use of the words “our indigenous” and to just flag the use of the word “our” as a possessive term for indigenous folks and that we should avoid the use of that language.
I'll mention that once as a courtesy, but in the future moments, Madam Chair, I'll be raising it as a point of order.
I'll continue.
The work the government is doing to prepare for environmental impacts due to the increase in shipping does pose, I think, a credible threat to Arctic folks and particularly to Inuit ways of life. The working groups from the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission and the Canada-Greenland Joint Commission on Beluga and Narwhal met in Denmark in December of last year. They recently released a report that predicts there will be almost no narwhal left in the area off the northeastern coast of Baffin Island this summer.
Hunters in Pond Inlet, also known as Mittimatalik in Inuktitut, are seeing fewer and fewer narwhal in the area where there used to be an abundance, and they note that their behaviour is changing. This is severely affecting Inuit hunters' ability to harvest the narwhal they use for food, their livelihoods and, of course, their culture.
The commissions' reports were clear. The increase in shipping traffic from the nearby Mary River iron ore mine, run by Baffinland, is to blame for the disappearance of the narwhal.
My question is for the Environment Canada representative. Do you accept the findings of that report?