Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Lutselk'e Dene First Nation brought forward their concerns to my attention about the Wardair Bristol Freighter that crashed and sunk in the spring of 1970 just a few meters away from the shoreline. My question is to the Minister of ECC. Since Wardair no longer exists, who's ultimately responsible today to clean up this plane wreckage 55 years later; is it the GNWT or the Government of Canada? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you much to the Member for the question. You know, as we talk about environmental liabilities -- and this certainly, from the description, sounds like an environmental liability of such in the North -- you know, there are many instances where these types of things have happened in the past that haven't been addressed and as we look forward to ways to address these, you know, it's certainly important that we work with all of our counterparts, including the federal government.
As to this specific instance, the Department of Environment and Climate Change has responsibility for spills that happen within communities, on highways, on public land. These types of events that happen in waterways would fall under the responsibility of the federal government and not the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. Can the Minister of ECC commit to work with the Lutselk'e Dene First Nation and the Government of Canada to find the necessary resources needed to clean up this plane wreckage as soon as possible and also to do an assessment of the plane's wreck site. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department does work collaboratively with other agencies across the NWT, and we are also part of the NWT/Nunavut spill working group. So on many of these instances where we have these types of clean-ups that are required, you know, as a department we take our resources, we will reach out to the appropriate lead agency, which would depend depending on sort of the circumstance of the incident. And this event would likely fall under the federal government, and we're certainly willing to have the conversation with the Member's community and with the department and see what kind of resources we can talk about with the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can also the Minister of ECC commit to using this model as a way to looking for other wreckages in the Tu Nedhe riding? Right now as it is, this is just one of many that we're starting to hear, so I just want to see if we could continue to have that relationship with the Minister with our Indigenous governments. Thank you.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Environment and Climate Change is also responsible for coordinating the 24-hour NWT/Nunavut Spill Line, and this is certainly a vehicle or an opportunity for communities or the general public to identify potential spills. And, you know, if you look at the definition of what is an environmental contamination, within the definition, it says that it's an unplanned release of a potential product that could harm the environment. So if there are these specific locations out on the landscape or in lakes or on our countryside, they can be identified as a potential spill certainly through that process which would allow us from the department perspective to engage with the communities or the public to make those assessments and then determine who the lead agency might be or what the potential path forward would be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Colleagues, before we go any further, I've got a little note here that says can you please slow down and be respectful of our interpreters. It's simultaneous interpretation so it takes them a little bit of time. And I know you were passionate getting your message, whether it's the Minister or the Members, but please take your time and allow the interpreters to do their job as efficiently and effectively as they do. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member from the Deh Cho.
