Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from the Yukon for his question.
I want to tell him that when I visited the North Warning System at Hall Beach, the Department of National Defence was conducting a full clean-up operation. I was saying earlier that the treaty is changing, but I would say environmental thinking is too. At the time, all the equipment used was left behind.
As we know the environment in the far north and particularly the Yukon is very fragile. I think it important for us to make sure now that we do not repeat these mistakes and that we clean up the mess created at the time. Work was underway when I went before the latest election.
I hope too that the present government will continue this approach, because the environment is very fragile, and the food chain could be come contaminated very quickly. I also think that the Inuit are keeping a very close eye and want to make sure the government continues cleaning up. They understand the major issue of the possible contamination of the food chain, which would necessarily affect them.
So, I want to reassure the member for the Yukon and tell him I share his viewpoint. We have to make sure the decontamination and clean up continue for years to come.