Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise in the House today to speak to Motion No. 519, and to also, at your indulgence, congratulate my colleague, the member of Parliament for Kenora, who in his short time here since the election of 2008 has done an absolutely fantastic job, not only here in his work as a parliamentarian but obviously back in his riding representing his constituents. My congratulations go out to him.
It is my pleasure to stand in the House today and recognize the important role that individual Canadians and their communities play in the protection of our most valuable and most vital water resources. Canada would be a poorer place indeed without the dedication demonstrated by committed Canadians to improving their natural environment. This is especially true of those communities in the Lake of the Woods basin and the people who live and work along the lake's shores.
I would like to bring to the attention of the hon. members present in the chamber here today the dedicated effort of the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation and the public support for this initiative that exists in the Lake of the Woods basin.
The Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation is a registered charity established in 2005 by a broadly based community of stakeholders committed to protecting and restoring the water quality of Lake of the Woods. They are committed to working with the Government of Canada and provincial agencies to develop a long-term sustainability plan for the watershed. They have also worked to develop binational community and government support for cooperative action to support and sustain the lake.
The foundation has been advocating for more than five years for an International Joint Commission reference on water pollution in Lake of the Woods. There is strong local support for such a reference. In fact, communities throughout the basin have already asked for this. Municipal council resolutions have been passed and transmitted to their respective provincial and federal legislators.
Let me give some examples. The Council of the City of Kenora passed a resolution endorsing a request to the Government of Canada to refer the question of Lake of the Woods water quality to the International Joint Commission. The township of Sioux Narrows-Nestor Falls, Ontario wrote that because the maintenance of good water quality in Lake of the Woods is of vital importance to the social and economic sustainable continuance of the township, it also supports a request to the government to refer the matter to the International Joint Commission.
In addition, the Northwestern Ontario Tourism Association has expressed support for a reference on this matter, as has the Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association. In each case, concern over the future of clean drinking water for their communities has brought them forward to voice their support.
We have heard them loud and clear. Contrary to what the member for Lac-Saint-Louis just tried to say in this chamber, on June 17, 2010, our government heeded their requests and those requests were answered when the Governments of Canada and the U.S. issued letters of reference to the International Joint Commission to review and provide recommendations on the binational management of the international waters of Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River system.
Co-operative science networks have also been establish between our two countries over the past several years with stakeholder groups in the Lake Winnipeg basin area, including scientific collaboration with the Lake of the Woods Water Sustainability Foundation. The foundation was approved for funding under the federal Lake Winnipeg basin stewardship fund for a project to develop a water quality modelling project for Lake of the Woods.
Through this project, the foundation will collaborate with other partners from government and academia to assist decision-making for managing phosphorus in the lake and in its watershed.
A multi-agency working arrangement was established in 2009 to foster trans-jurisdictional coordination and collaboration on science and management activities to enhance and restore water quality in the basin.
Members of this working arrangement include Environment Canada, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, provincial and state agencies from Ontario, Manitoba and Minnesota, academics and stakeholders from the basin on both sides of the border.
In moving forward, the federal government will do its part to build upon the spirit of co-operation and collaboration that currently exists. Long-term sustainable management of the basin is dependent on establishing a decision-making body that is inclusive and responsive to the concerns of the local population. Our existing binational management framework needs to be reviewed in order to better govern water quality issues in the lake.
The June 17 reference builds on these existing efforts. The International Joint Commission has assigned the International Lake of the Woods and Rainy River Watershed Task Force to conduct the review of existing binational management in the basin and provide recommendations for two purposes: first, to recommend potential structures and mechanisms to enhance binational management; and then to identify priority issues or activities to be addressed by or through such mechanisms. The task force met in the Lake of the Woods basin in late August to begin this important task.
The reference will be conducted in line with the International Joint Commission's international watershed initiative. This will promote communication, collaboration and coordination among stakeholders in the basin, using an integrated ecosystem approach.
The International Joint Commission is ideally suited to review the governance arrangements in the basin. The commission is already present in the basin and has a history of working well with the communities there.
The task force is working in consultation with governments at all levels, as well as first nations and tribes on both sides of the border, and is setting up a citizens advisory group to ensure stakeholder participation in its review and recommendations. Following the task force's recommendations to the International Joint Commission in June of 2011, the commission will perform public consultations in order to directly receive the views of ordinary folks who live in the basin before reporting to governments in December of 2011.
A review of the governance arrangements in the basin, including the role of the International Joint Commission, is a necessary first step to establishing the longer-term sustainability plan that the local communities desire. Each element of the existing governance arrangements will be carefully reviewed. I look forward, as a member of the governing party, to receiving the recommendations of the commission on this matter.
As a former conservation officer, fisheries technician and a person who has studied fisheries and aquatic sciences, I am very pleased not only with the motion brought forward by my colleague from Kenora, but with all the efforts we are making to clean up our waters and create marine and freshwater conservation areas so we can have continued good ecological and environmental integrity to maintain water as a strategic and important necessity of life for future generations to come. I look forward to hearing more from my colleagues as this debate continues.