Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question. What can we do? The first thing we can do is stand up for what is right and just. We owe it to Canadians everywhere to stand up to the United States of America and to the government of North Dakato when something obviously wrong is being committed.
I believe we do have legislation and we do have accords that are binding. If we go back to the 1909 boundary waters treaty, which is a formally signed agreement between Canada and the United States to protect water resources on either side of the border, that is one way we can start.
We can also look to the international joint commission which was set up to deal with disputes to resolve them in accordance with the law. That process has been side-stepped and ignored by the government of North Dakota. I am sure if we had a chance to talk with Herb Gray, who is involved with the IJC, our long-standing colleague, we might hear some true facts about that.
However, let me also point out to the member that the August 2005 agreement is pretty firm. I am reading here from a joint press statement between Canada and the United States, between Manitoba and North Dakota and Minnesota. It states:
The United States and Canada today announced that important progress has been made toward addressing flooding in Devils Lake....
It goes on to talk about the steps that would be taken, steps that involved a compromise to get to that point, of an advanced filter instead of a complete closure and some changes with respect to environmental assessment, all of which were agreed to and none of which have been followed. I think that provides a good basis for further action.
Finally, let me just point out that with respect to the changes by North Dakota in its environmental standards and the changing of the levels of sulphate in order for it to be convenient for its project, we need to stand up and deal with it. The minister of water in Manitoba has gone to North Dakota with the NGO community in the environmental area with support from all walks of life to stand up and say that has to be stopped. I believe that if we stand up with them we can make that kind of impact and effect some real change.