Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for this very important question.
I am very concerned about protecting Canadians' environment and health from the contamination created by toxic waste. The current initiatives of my department are to prevent toxic waste from accumulating in the first place. Our environmental assessment legislation and our new amended environmental protection legislation are very important to that effect.
However, we are also concerned about historic toxic waste. We have spent millions of dollars in recent years to help decontaminate sites in the northern territories and we will continue to provide advice to federal departments for the elimination of toxic waste.