Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke about the Mackenzie River and the protection that is going to be required through some avenues with the territorial government and the federal government and also with the Protected Area Strategy. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for ENR: in terms of living up to the commitments of the Protected Area Strategy, what is the current status on the Mackenzie Valley five year action plan?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Clearly, this Assembly is very interested and concerned about water. We passed a motion in the 15th Assembly where we are the only jurisdiction in Canada that may consider water a basic human right, so we have met that. We are very concerned about the issue of water in this Assembly. We have come forward with the water strategy that is underway, and it is going to be unique. We have worked with the aboriginal governments to do that as well. We worked at reviving the Mackenzie River Basin Board and trying to put the issue of watershed management on the list to get the board together with the Ministers to have some serious discussion about water.
As well, we are working on a land use framework as a territorial government that will allow us to better address the very many planning concerns, in addition to the commitment that we have as one of the partners in the Protected Area Strategy.
Mr. Speaker, I am very happy and very proud when this Assembly is making first commitments to protect the water in the Mackenzie River, and also the 15th Assembly passing the motion saying it’s our right; it’s in our blood down in the Mackenzie Valley.
In terms of protection, I would ask the Minister: would he work very closely with his federal counterparts and the aboriginal groups to have the resources there for the Protected Area Strategy group to implement a critical component of their work in terms of protecting our land and our water in the Mackenzie Valley before development?
Of course we will work with all the stakeholders involved with the Protected Area Strategy. We have a very close working relationship with the aboriginal governments. We have funded…. For example, we assisted Fort Good Hope when we had the Sahtu water conference. We have been involved in various water conferences across the North. As a government we are investing a lot of money in the water strategy, and we are going to continue to invest the resources necessary to work with the aboriginal governments to protect this, one of our most valuable resources.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister inform this House as to the status of the water resource management strategy? When can we see the final version?
The intention and plan is to have a document complete by March 2009. We are about halfway through the consultation process. We have been taking the strategy around the North. We have taken it up, for example, to the Sahtu water conference. We have consulted with the aboriginal governments. We have a working group that the Premier committed to forming to provide oversight. That document has been vetted, as well, by some of the best water people in the world in terms of making sure we have all the key elements and principles in our strategy. So that process and strategy is coming along. The committee has been briefed, and we will share with them, as well, the midpoint review as we pull together all the consultation that we have had and adjustments that we are intending to make.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to differ with the Minister in terms of the best people and water rights down here in the Mackenzie River, here in the communities. They live off the water; they know their water.
I would like to ask the Minister about the Mackenzie River being labelled as a sensitive cultural, spiritual heritage site that needs to be protected right down the Mackenzie Valley, because we are at ground zero of all the mega developments that are even on the table right now. I would ask the Minister if he would see that the Mackenzie River gets full — the highest — protection in terms of water quality and flow for the people of the Mackenzie Valley.
The water strategy that is under development has a clear blending and recognition of the value of traditional knowledge, natural capital and western science. We recognize very clearly in all our work with the aboriginal governments that, yes, some of the best knowledge we have about water in the Mackenzie River Basin comes from the traditional knowledge of the people that live on the land.
We need to blend that with western science, and we are committed to spending the time and the effort to make sure that we have all the documents and instruments we need to have the best protection possible for the whole Mackenzie River Basin, especially the part from the 60th parallel north, which is the area that we live in.
We are also signatories of the Mackenzie River basin transboundary agreement, and we have to work with the other jurisdictions so that we can in fact have whole watershed management as our priority.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
