Mr. Speaker, this is a major issue that we address today and one that relates very much to my riding of Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, impacted as we are by the health of and the need to preserve one of Ontario's major lakes, Lake Simcoe.
Canada is a water rich nation. We are stewards of 9% of the world's renewal freshwater. But in the context of the motion under debate it is important that members realize that export is but one facet of how we manage this life giving resource.
While Canadians enjoy one of the highest standards of clean water in the world, pollution remains an important problem in some of our waters. In some areas people cannot swim or eat the fish they catch or drink the water without it going through extensive purification.
The quality of Canada's freshwater and marine areas is affected by three major water pollution problems, toxic substances, excess nutrients and sedimentation. Toxic substance from industrial, agricultural and domestic use form major pollutants in our water. These include trace elements of PCBs, mercury, dioxins, furans and some pesticides. Some of these substances accumulate through the food chain rather than breaking down in the environment.
These substances enter our water in a variety of ways, including industrial sources such as mining, steel production, accidents such as oil or chemical spills, and contaminated sites such as the Sydney tar ponds in Nova Scotia, municipal waste water effluents and atmospheric deposition from Mexico, the U.S. and Europe in Canada through rain and snow.
Excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous compounds come mainly from municipal sewage and farm run-off containing fertilizers and animal waste. These nutrients can cause excess growth of aquatic plants which then die and decay, depleting water of dissolved oxygen and killing fish.
Sedimentation which we have difficulty with in Lake Simcoe is an increase in the amount of solid particles in water caused primarily by human activities, coming from farming, from forestry and construction. When sediment settles it can smoother the feeding and spawning grounds of fish and kill aquatic organisms.
Water pollution affects our health, our environment and our economy. Some of the toxic substances in water have been found to cause cancer. Others pose a threat to reproductive and immune systems and have already been found in the milk of some mothers. The health of all Canadians is threatened, especially that of young children, seniors and natives in the north, who depend on local wildlife for their survival.
Pollution lowers the value in the eyes of industry and raises the household cost of this resource. The economic value of Canadian fresh water used in homes and industry is estimated to be between $15 million and $20 million annually.
Canada has made progress in reducing many important water pollution problems. For example, 30 years ago Lake Erie was largely considered to be dead due to excessive nutrients from municipal waste. Today several of the original wildlife species have returned and the lake supports a commercial fishery.
Recent improvements in water quality have resulted in a decline in levels of DDT detected in the breast milk of mothers in southern Ontario and in Quebec since the early 1970s.
Pulp mills have reduced dioxin and furan discharges since 1988 as a result of tougher federal and provincial regulations on pulp and paper effluents. Many B.C. shellfish and bottom fish harvesting areas which we closed because of these pollutants have now reopened. Ecosystem initiatives in several major watersheds have helped to improve water quality. Under the St. Lawrence action plan pollution from 50 priority industries has been reduced since 1988. Under the Great Lakes action plan the harbour in Collingwood, Ontario is restored. The Fraser River action plan has led to a 90% reduction in the release of toxic wood preservative chemicals.
Treatment of wastewater has also evolved. For example, municipal treatment systems process up to 75% of Canada's wastewater. Through its infrastructure program, the federal government has given communities $700 million to help them establish and improve their water and wastewater treatment infrastructures.
The Government of Canada is now addressing water quality concerns through various actions, including a renewed Canadian Environmental Protection Act, CEPA, and the development of a federal freshwater strategy.
The minister of the environment and the standing committee on the environment are engaged in the process of developing a new CEPA which must improve enforcement as well as control toxic pollutants and other wastes. The freshwater strategy is founded on the need to work co-operatively with provinces and territories in order to better integrate the environmental, economic and social dimensions of freshwater management.
Federal, provincial and territorial governments, industry and communities are also working together to take action on the worst toxics and the worst polluters, broaden the participation of Canadian businesses and establish Canadian-wide standards.
Canada has significantly reduced the flow of pollution into its waters, but the future continues to hold tremendous challenges as environmental issues become larger and more complex. Global demands for pesticides, manufactured chemical goods and products are rising. The number of substances known or strongly suspected to be toxic continues to grow.
The challenge for Canada is to continue to build international co-operation, in particular on heavy metals and persistent organic polluters. Domestically we must continue to build and encourage leadership and partners with communities, industry and provincial and territorial governments. But it is the federal body which must provide the leadership and initiative to provide the legislative framework which will ensure the protection of Canadian water.
It is this broad approach and not just a focus on water export alone that will provide Canadians with the clean water they need now and in the future. At this critical time I would agree with the motion before us that the government should in co-operation with the provinces and the territories place an immediate moratorium on interbasin transfers and the export of water.
Interbasin transfers can negatively impact the social and economic well-being of people who live in watershed areas. In my community around Lake Simcoe we are tremendously impacted by a watershed area. Indeed it is this major concern that we are debating here today.
This action should be a joint action taken in co-operation with provincial and territorial governments. I have promoted these policies with my colleagues and I stand in the House to do so today.