Mr. Speaker, there is a long and sad history of environmental neglect in the north. For 67 years the Dene people of Daline have suffered and died because of radioactive contamination on their traditional lands and they need help now.
The Marwell tar pit in Whitehorse has been leaking toxic wastes into the environment for over 50 years. A man was even trapped and died there.
The federal government collects money for land reclamation and reforestation, yet no money goes back.
It takes 200 to 700 years to grow a tree in the north. The government approved the cut of over 200,000 hectares and only 4,000 have been replanted, and that is because of the efforts of students in the north.
There are abandoned military sites all over the north and if the departments of defence, Indian and northern affairs and the environment value the people and the land of the north this would never have happened. At the very least it would have been cleaned up.
If the Minister of Finance is serious about the environment there is ample opportunity to prove it.