Madam Speaker, I thank the member for splitting his time with me.
The motion is commendable, and I would like to congratulate the hon. member who brought it forth.
However, before I get into the specifics of the motion and the substantial aspects of it, I would like to mention that this motion raises another issue that is important to discuss, that is, the need for a national water strategy.
There is a problem. There is a vacuum at the national level when it comes to water policy. This summer, when the first ministers met in August, at the end of their meeting, the Premier of Quebec acted as their spokesperson and said that the first ministers had decided to take some more aggressive measures on climate change and freshwater management. The Premier of Quebec cited the lack of a national water strategy, as well as the lack of federal leadership on water, as the reasons that these new measures needed to be pursued. The lack of federal leadership necessitates action at other levels.
Recently, this theme was also taken up after the Commissioner of the Environment in Ontario tabled his report, in which he underscored the ongoing problems that exist in the Great Lakes. In reaction to the publication of that report, another commentator said it would help the Great Lakes if we had a national water strategy.
Now, when we talk about a national water strategy, or any kind of water strategy, we need to consider the concept of integrated watershed management.
I agree that this is an important concept. However, it is a high-level concept and one that is very general in nature. I think the formation of a national water strategy needs some specific pillars and would benefit from discussions on bulk water exports, water as a human right, waste water treatment, management and protection of the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, and the oil sands and water. It should also deal with the pollution of Lake Winnipeg and the other problems that Lake Winnipeg is having. And of course, a national water strategy should deal with the IJC and whether the IJC has enough resources to do the work that is expected of it.
Is the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States offering the IJC enough to support to allow it to look at issues like Lake Winnipeg or the Lake of the Woods in a more comprehensive manner?
I think a national water strategy should deal with the Lake of the Woods. The Lake of the Woods sub-basin is the most important of the Winnipeg River drainage areas. It contributes half of the flow of the Winnipeg River.
The Winnipeg River drainage basin, in turn, is the most significant of Lake Winnipeg's sub-basins. In fact, it contributes 45% of Lake Winnipeg's total inflow; it contributes, unfortunately, 25% of the nitrogen loadings of Lake Winnipeg; and it contributes 12% of the phosphorous loadings of Lake Winnipeg.
So we can see that the Lake of the Woods, beyond being a beautiful area for cottagers and tourists, plays an important role in the health of the larger watershed and, more specifically, in the health of Lake Winnipeg.
The motion is important because, at the moment, while the IJC is looking at water pollution and water levels in the Rainy River, and looking at water levels in Lake of the Woods, it is not, for the time being, looking at water quality in the Lake of the Woods. So it is important to raise this point and to put pressure on the Conservative government to deal with the IJC and the United States in getting the issue of water quality in the Lake of the Woods on the agenda.
The fact that this motion was raised at all means that the federal government is not doing its job. I congratulate the hon. member for bringing in this motion, and hopefully the Conservative government will give some attention to the issue.