Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague, the member for Newton—North Delta.
I am very pleased to take part in this debate. I have noticed that up to this point, most of the speakers have been from Manitoba or from the west. I feel somewhat like a visiting relative on this issue.
I am very interested in the whole issue of the government's approach to water policy. This interest flows from my membership on the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development and the work I have done with the national Liberal water caucus.
As I have said before in this House, we cannot say that a government has a complete environmental policy unless it also has a strategic and comprehensive approach to the issue of how to protect and manage our water resources.
Tonight's emergency debate is welcomed. It is important for a number of reasons in my view.
By debating this issue and giving it some attention and hopefully some headlines, we are offering our moral support to Manitobans, Obviously, this issue impacts on them directly. It is important to support our fellow Canadians in this complex struggle they are engaged in with regard to the state of North Dakota and of course against, in some way, the federal government of the Untied States.
North Dakota has acted unilaterally and in so doing, is harming the biological integrity of the Red River and Lake Winnipeg. The U.S. federal government's involvement is almost involvement by not being involved. The EPA has delegated to North Dakota the authority for setting the quality standards for the water involved. The Bush administration has not been overly aggressive in lobbying the state of North Dakota to cooperate in this matter for two reasons, specifically: one, it has a philosophy of not wanting to interfere with state rights; and, two, Governor Hoeven is a powerful Republican governor in the Republican family which is currently in the White House.
I know that this problem was not created by the government. It has been a long-festering problem. If I could ask one question right now of the foreign affairs minister or the environment minister, it would be why we did not see the reopening of the outlet coming. It happened on Monday, June 11. It seems to me that if we had been monitoring the situation, we might have seen the probability that the outlet would be opened and perhaps we could have raised the issue before action was taken by the government of North Dakota.
The problem with the water from Devils Lake entering into Lake Winnipeg stems from the fact, among other things, that Devils Lake has high concentrations of mercury, phosphates, arsenic and salt, making it too contaminated for local irrigation. I think that answers the question of my hon. friend across the way who asked, given that there are water shortages in the United States, why water from Devils Lake is not diverted to other areas of the United States. I am not a scientific expert, but my hunch would be that the water is too contaminated.
One of the reasons the water is so contaminated is that Devils Lake is somewhat isolated from other water flows in its vicinity. It really has no outlets and no inlets. The water has been sitting there fed by precipitation and so on and so forth for about 1,000 years.
Estimates indicate that if nothing is done to resolve this situation, 40,000 pounds of phosphorous will reach Lake Winnipeg each year resulting in a five inch algae layer on approximately 10 miles of beach.
The second reason to have this debate is it is important to keep the federal government focused on this issue. The government is dealing with many environmental issues, of course climate change being one of them. There have been indications that perhaps the government is not taking this issue that seriously. It is very important to keep the government focused on the Devils Lake issue.
One thing the government should do in order to give attention to this issue but also to the whole range of water issues that are very complex, that touch on many jurisdictions and that involve at least 20 departments and agencies across the federal government, is to create a secretary of state for water policy. This would give focus to the issue of water and would be a champion on the issue of water. It would take a greater lead in protecting Canada from the outflow from Devils Lake. The government could take that important step.
The third reason to have this debate is it is very important to raise awareness both inside and outside this House that North Dakota's unilateral action on this issue has put into jeopardy perhaps the long term viability of the boundary waters treaty. Article IV of the 1909 boundary waters treaty states that cross-border water flows “shall not be polluted on either side to the injury of health or property on the other”. In a sense, the current situation is in clear violation of the treaty and it is leading many people to ask whether the treaty is at all effective.
It is important to have a debate around this issue and impress upon Canadian citizens and our American friends who are listening to this debate that this is an important issue and that the actions of North Dakota are putting in jeopardy perhaps the long term viability of the boundary waters treaty.
The fourth reason we need to have this debate is that Devils Lake is one flashpoint in the issue of cross-border water resource management but there are others below the surface. We will have to be ready in future to deal with those other flashpoints as they ignite, and they will. I think there are over 40 tributaries or rivers that cross in and out of the United States and Canada. It is only a matter of time before problems arise similar to the Devils Lake problem.
The question becomes, what should the federal government do? We have heard a lot about talk, diplomacy, scientific studies, analysis and work going on at the EPA in an effort to develop a better permanent filter. We need some innovative leadership on this issue. Strong aggressive lobbying is needed both on Capitol Hill and in the states that go along the Canada-U.S. border.
We have to tell our American friends what is going on. We know that they have a sense of fair play and the more people south of the border we sensitize to this issue, the more pressure they will put on their own politicians to protect North American water resources.