Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, the management of the overall transboundary water relationship with the United States has been a major irritant for the Government of Canada.
I am pleased to speak on this matter tonight. As many members will know, the Assiniboine River is the major tributary to the Red River and the Assiniboine River flows through my constituency with its many tributaries, like Sturgeon Creek and others.
The reason why I raise this is the fact that this issue goes far beyond Lake Winnipeg. It goes to the entire watershed and that includes the prairie provinces, Ontario, and who knows where it goes beyond that. This is an important issue for all Canadians and it is really important that we work together to solve this problem.
It is important that we continue with the critical science and engineering efforts that are currently underway. I wish to assure members that the Devils Lake outlet and its implications for Manitobans are key concerns for the federal government.
The President of the Treasury Board has spoken with his colleague the Minister of the Environment and the minister of water stewardship in Manitoba on the decision by North Dakota to operate the outlet.
The governments of Canada and Manitoba are united in their concern and disappointment over North Dakota's move to release water in the absence of a permanent treatment system at the outlet. The governments of Canada and Manitoba have been steadfast allies throughout the Devils Lake outlet dispute and we will continue to support each other's efforts to address this issue.
Engagement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of International Trade, the Minister of the Environment, Canada's ambassador to the United States, and other officials have underlined the government's commitment to put our concerns about Devils Lake front and centre in our dealings with the United States.
This government has conveyed Canada's concern regarding North Dakota's Devils Lake outlet to the highest levels of the U.S. government on many occasions and we will continue in these efforts until the matter is resolved successfully.
Our consistent aim is to address Canada's concerns regarding the outlet, including safeguards to prevent the transfer of invasive species from Devils Lake to Lake Winnipeg. Our government believes that the Devils Lake outlet should not operate until measures are implemented to ensure the protection of downstream waters from the potential threat of invasive species transfers.
Based on the boundary waters treaty of 1909, water that flows across the international boundary “shall not be polluted on either side to the injury of health or property on the other”. Our government takes its obligations under the treaty seriously and expects the U.S. government to make every effort to ensure that it upholds its side of the bargain.
In addition to exposing Canadian waters to an unknown and unwarranted degree of risk, North Dakota is jeopardizing very important binational scientific work on invasive species in the Red River basin being conducted under the International Joint Commission. The IJC is the international organization created by the boundary waters treaty to help resolve and prevent disputes on matters arising related to waters shared between Canada and the United States.
Based in part on the advice of this House and the terms of the 2005 joint statement on Devils Lake flooding and ecosystem protection, the Canadian and U.S. governments have engaged the commission to conduct a survey of fish parasites and pathogens in Devils Lake and the broader basin. This work will help shed light on the risks posed by the outlet and aid in informing the development of a permanent treatment regime.
As well, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation with Canadian technical experts, is undertaking an important engineering analysis on the design of an effective treatment system for the outlet.
North Dakota's decision impedes the important progress that has been made with the United States toward resolving the Devils Lake outlet dispute. Further, we remain dissatisfied by North Dakota's effort to relax the terms of the operating permit for the outlet, a move that has allowed the outlet to run this year.
A key constraint on releases from the outlet into the Sheyenne River is the maximum sulphate concentration allowed in the river. Last year North Dakota's health department approved a request from the North Dakota state water commission to increase the allowable sulphate concentration in the Sheyenne River by 50%, from 330 milligrams per litre to 450 milligrams per litre. Our government was and remains critical of this weakening of the permit.
In its submission to the North Dakota health department on the permit modification, our government pointed out that the changes could result in degraded water quality at the international boundary and increase the risk of harm. In the final analysis, our government underlined its belief that there was simply not sufficient science to warrant the proposed changes. Lack of sound science has continued to be a persistent feature of the entire state of the outlet project.
Along with insufficient science to allow for informed decisions about the operating permit, the state outlet has proceeded without a proper environmental impact assessment. For these reasons, Canadian waters face an unknown risk from the Devils Lake outlet.
Because of this unknown risk, our government has worked closely with Manitoba and the U.S. government to advance our understanding of the potential threat by the outlet and to design an effective treatment system so that the outlet can be operated safely.
Once again, I hope that the House will support the government's efforts in pressing North Dakota to close the outlet and allow the engineering work now underway on a permanent treatment facility as well as to allow the important biological survey to continue unhampered by discharges from Devils Lake.
This is an important issue for Manitoba and all Canadians, and I hope we stand united to fight and continue to work on the science, so that we can make the best decisions with the information available.