Mr. Chair, in 2009, the government had initiated the national assessment of first nations water and waste water systems. It was the most rigorous and comprehensive independent assessment of its kind, surveying 97% of drinking water and waste water systems in first nations communities and first nations reserves.
In 2008, our department completed a series of workshops with first nations across the country to obtain feedback from the department's water protocols and based on this in 2010, updated and replaced its previous protocol with the protocol for centralized drinking water systems in first nations communities.
Over the course more recently of 2011-12, we are working to address 47 water systems identified as both high design and high overall risk.
Again, with respect to the training programs the member is talking about, I would invite him to come out to the great Kenora riding where we have seen significant investments in certification. We thank Northern Waterworks and Confederation College for their important work in ensuring that the facilities themselves, the infrastructure, can be reported, monitored and maintained with appropriate certified workers in those respective isolated first nations communities, in particular.