Mr. Speaker, the International Joint Commission, a Canada-U.S. bilateral organization created by treaty in 1909, is responsible for monitoring the progress achieved in meeting the objectives of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement by the Canadian and U.S. governments, Ontario and eight states bordering the Great Lakes.
Last winter, the commission tabled its seventh report reaffirming the recommendations in the two previous reports and made new recommendations to eliminate pollution in the Great Lakes. The conclusion of the seventh report was inescapable: The Joint Commission rejected the approach traditionally favoured by both countries. It recommended a drastically different strategy. The commission wants a clear action plan aimed at virtually eliminating persistent toxins threatening human health and the future of the Great Lakes' ecosystem.
It favoured a consultation process involving the federal government, Ontario, as well as union and community organizations to allow each player to participate in making decisions on how to achieve cleanup goals. What caught the attention of ordinary people-who do not know as much about the environment as biochemists and scientists with recognized expertise in this field-is probably the effect of toxins on animal and human health.
Reproductive, metabolic, neurological and behavioral abnormalities in humans, fish and birds which are due to water pollution in the Great Lakes are simply inconceivable. Exposure to these toxins increases the risk of breast and other types of cancer. In the long term, scientific evidence shows that PCBs, dioxins and organo-chlorinated compounds disrupt hormonal balance in animals. Studies show the existence of similar effects in humans.
Even more distressing are the long-term effects of these toxins on the body; they are currently hard to identify but may become devastating in the not too distant future. This is caused by toxic waste spills in the Great Lakes.
We must, however, admit that the governments of Ontario and Canada have made significant progress since the first agreement was signed in 1971. Since then, the amount of PCBs found in seagull eggs has gone down by 90 per cent. The iron and steel, and pulp and paper industries have reduced their release of conventional pollutants by 75 per cent since 1972, compared to 90 per cent for the petroleum industry.
The Bloc Quebecois is not denying the efforts of the two governments, but would like to point out that certain problems remain and that the Canada-Ontario agreement signed in July has been criticized on several counts. For example, Jay Palter of Greenpeace expressed his disappointment with the agreement. He felt that it would not protect the health of the public and the environment of the Great Lakes, because it ignored the most toxic chemicals and did absolutely nothing to eliminate the most toxic chlorinated substances in the Great Lakes.
Today, the minister is admittedly proposing an initial step towards the elimination of toxic chlorinated substances, but it is clearly insufficient and does not seem to meet the expectations of the environmental stakeholders. The minister indicates that the plan is designed to eliminate nine toxic chlorinated substances and to reduce the use, generation and release of five other substances, without placing a total ban on the use of chlorine.
The International Joint Commission proposed that the use of chlorine and chlorinated compounds in manufacturing processes should be restricted, gradually eliminated and ultimately banned. Naturally, this approach was dependent on government consultation with industry and the other stakeholders.
The minister is basing her opinion on the results of a special meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, from which she has concluded that it is not necessary to ban the use of chlorine in manufacturing processes. We need hardly remind her that this opinion is not shared by all stakeholders in the Great Lakes' question.
At the biennial meeting of the International Joint Commission, which was held in the fall of 1993, a big controversy developed over the prohibition of that toxic substance.
For example, Greenpeace and Pollution Probe challenged claims made by American organizations such as the Chlorine Chemistry Council, as well as the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, to the effect that chlorine is not such a toxic substance.
It is essential to conduct research on chlorine and its alternatives in industrial processing techniques to put an end to the ambiguity regarding the virtual elimination of toxic substances which are harmful to our health.
Let us not forget that 40 million people live on the shores of those lakes. We often hear about the damage caused to the Amazon forest, the desertification of African land and numerous other sites threatened by human activity. The Great Lakes are one of those sites, since one quarter of the world's freshwater supply is found there. A long time ago, people may have believed that, because of its size, this body of water would never be seriously affected by pollution, but now we have to recognize that, after years of spillage, these toxic substances have formed sediments and created a very real problem.
The minister says that she is anxiously waiting for the American plan. It seems somewhat strange to us, Bloc Quebecois members, that the Canadian strategy would be released when the American plan is not even known.
If there is an issue over which the two countries should consult with each other it is the follow-up of the recommendations made by the International Joint Commission. The clean-up plans of both partners have an impact on the same body of water; consequently, these efforts must complement each other. As was the case when the signing of the Oslo Protocol on acid rain was announced last May, when measures to be initiated by the Government of Canada to deal with transborder environmental problems are announced by the minister in the House, it is imperative to supplement these with an agreement with the neighbouring country in order to make these clean-up efforts effective.
In this respect, the 1992 report by the sub-committee on acid rain of the Standing Committee on the Environment was quite clear, and I quote: "Thus, while a unilateral Canadian program of controls on acid-rain-generating emissions might carry moral or political suasion, it is recognized that a permanent solution to the problem in North America must include the United States".
The same applies to dealing with pollution by chemical substances in the Great Lakes. The same applies to the clean-up of the St. Lawrence River. Last week, I went with the environment and sustainable development committee to the St. Lawrence Centre, which implements a federal-provincial program, with a budget of around $100 million, to clean up the river.
We know that 40 per cent of the toxics that pollute the river come from the Great Lakes. We therefore feel it is essential to take a comprehensive and consistent approach. Why bother spending all this money on cleaning up the river, if toxic substances can come from unmonitored sources upstream?
If we do not take steps to deal with the whole problem, we are just wasting taxpayers money. We are literally throwing it down the drain.
In concluding, we want to thank the members of the commission for their excellent job in clarifying what remains to be done to eliminate pollution in the Great Lakes. Their determination is a sign that future generations may yet see these magnificent waters in their pristine state.
As the commission's report said, what we do to the Great Lakes, we do to ourselves and to our children.