Environment Committee on June 11th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you.

Ms. Taylor Roy.

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

As this is our last meeting on this important study, I'd like to make a comment and then ask a broader question about the Canada water agency.

First, I'd like to thank you for the call for proposals, in particular on the freshwater ecosystems. I represent Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, and it's very important for Lake Simcoe in particular.

Many of my constituents are concerned not only about Lake Simcoe but about fresh water across Canada and the challenges we're facing. In fact, in the public engagement process, as reported in the “what we heard” report, almost all the people who participated in that process supported the government's initiative to establish the Canada water agency. I think it spanned 75 days of engagement, over 2,700 Canadians, 900 national forums, six regional forums, tens of thousands of website visits, emails and much more, and it ensured regional engagement from coast to coast to coast.

Also, then, in this committee, we've heard from a great many witnesses over the course of this study, most of whom support and find a need for a Canada water agency, but there are some who question the need for it, including a member of our committee, who questioned it earlier in the meeting. Because of that, I want you to comment broadly on the need for the Canada water agency. Even though we've had provincial and territorial watershed authorities and many departments and agencies in the government addressing the serious issues facing us with fresh water, we still see that the challenges have been increasing over the past few decades.

As someone who is concerned about the future of our country—and the future for the next seven generations, as indigenous people often say—I feel that if we don't have this coordinated, concerted effort made by the government to establish the Canada water agency, we're not going to be able to address a lot of these challenges. I'm talking about things like droughts, obviously, and the tailings ponds, and the management of water and water quality—in fact, all the sorts of things that we've been talking about.

If you could, talk a bit about how the CWA is going to address those concerns more broadly, why you think this is necessary and what might happen if we didn't put this in place at this stage in terms of the progress of these challenges and the destruction of our fresh water.

[Daniel Wolfish]

I'd start off by saying that protecting our fresh water in Canada is a major effort, and it requires lots of different tools: regulatory, financial, information, science, modelling. It's a big effort.

Right now, we're all operating in our silos. There is not much of a mechanism to share that information across those silos, to develop coordinated advice to support ministers or cabinet; to engage with provinces and territories in a coherent, integrated fashion; and to provide an opportunity to hear and listen to Métis, first nation and Inuit perspectives and to do so in a way that's respectful of indigenous traditions and the need for removing colonial approaches to the way we engage with them—to do a distinctions-based approach.

What we're doing in the Canada water agency is creating that focus, that place to be able to do that, and to be able to do that provides a voice directly to the minister that's not mitigated by others who have to manage or mitigate that through other avenues or vehicles.

We provide an opportunity, a single window, for the provinces or territories to engage with us on questions so that we can then navigate the federal system with them. We won't have all the tools all the time. We won't have all the solutions, but our job is to help figure that out for Canadians, creating a portal site—what we would call a “one window on water” or WOW—to help Canadians navigate the system, to get information and to connect with where the appropriate information and responsibilities lie.

Water is going to be the issue of the 21st century. Water will have pressures from industrial growth, agricultural development and changes in climate change. Having a place that can be a focal point to bring the dialogue together, to provide that advice and to connect with provinces, with first nations, with Métis and with Inuit is something that is, from my perspective, a value added that we can bring to the team.

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you very much. That really wrapped it up nicely. I appreciate your comments on this.

As we heard from indigenous witnesses, water is life. It's not just a resource to be managed; it's something we need to respect. We really need to think about it in the way that you described.

Thank you for your work, and, to all the witnesses, thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you.

That brings our first panel to a close.

I would also like to thank you, Mr. Wolfish, for the great work that you and others at this table are doing to advance Canada's water security at a time of water stress and climate stress. Thank you very much.

It's been wonderful having you before the committee at different times for this study. I hope you'll find our report, which should come out in the fall, interesting and useful for the work that you do.

Colleagues, we'll just break for a minute. We'll start up with our second panel very shortly.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

We are ready to continue the meeting with the second panel of witnesses. All the participants are online. Sound tests were done. Everything is fine there.

We welcome four individuals from three different entities.

We have with us a representative from the Government of Alberta, Ms. Kate Rich, assistant deputy minister of policy, the environment and protected areas.

We also have a representative from the Government of the Northwest Territories, Mr. Julian Kanigan, assistant deputy minister of environmental management, monitoring and climate change at the Department of Environment and Climate Change.

Finally, we welcome two representatives from the government of Yukon, Ms. Heather Jirousek, director of water resources, and Mr. Brendan Mulligan, senior scientist for groundwater and water resources at the Department of Environment.

We will start with Ms. Rich.

Ms. Rich, you have five minutes to speak.

[Kate Rich, Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, Environment and Protected Areas, Government of Alberta]

Thank you very much for this opportunity to appear before the committee. I am joining you from Edmonton, Alberta, on the traditional territory of the signatories to Treaty 6. I also acknowledge the Métis people of Alberta, who have a deep connection to this land.

Water management is a priority of the Government of Alberta, and I really appreciate the opportunity to briefly share some key elements to ensure the protection, conservation and fair allocation of water for Albertans now as well as in years to come.

Alberta’s water for life strategy outlines our commitments to managing and safeguarding water. The strategy was established in 2003 and has undergone review to ensure our actions continue to achieve the strategy's three goals: safe, secure drinking water supplies; healthy aquatic ecosystems; and reliable, quality water supplies for a sustainable economy. The strategy also includes three strategic directions to achieve those goals: knowledge and research, water conservation and partnerships.

Water partners are empowered to support watershed stewardship across our province. At the provincial level, the Alberta Water Council provides policy advice to the government. Its 23 members are from governments, industry and non-governmental organizations. Alberta also has 11 watershed planning and advisory councils. These multi-sector organizations lead planning, report on the state of the watershed and advance water literacy at the watershed scale. At the local level, we have over 100 recognized watershed stewardship groups leading on-the-ground action and projects.

Alberta has two primary acts to protect our water and guide water use. The Water Act guides the allocation or withdrawal of freshwater resources and the protection of rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands and groundwater. The Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act supports the protection of the environment, including measures regarding water quality and pollution prevention. There are other acts that help manage water, such as the Alberta Land Stewardship Act, under which we've established water quality management frameworks, and the Fisheries Act, which supports the control of aquatic invasive species.

Our legislation includes provisions for establishing water management plans. These statutory plans are developed for water basins to guide regulatory decisions and approvals, establish minimum in-stream flow needs, outline conditions for diversions and set strategies for the protection of the aquatic environment.

To further manage land-use activities and cumulative impacts, Alberta also establishes environmental management frameworks for water. These are part of our land-use planning approach.

Underpinning our water management activities and decisions is our monitoring, evaluation and reporting program. It includes rivers and streams, lakes and reservoirs, surface water quality, wetlands and groundwater. Each area has a long-term monitoring approach enabling the evaluation of changes to conditions and the impacts of pressures over time. In many cases, these go back several decades. Monitoring programs are reviewed every five years, and provincial-scale condition-of-the-environment reporting is updated regularly. Our system is overseen by the Office of the Chief Scientist, who is appointed by the minister.

Alberta also recognizes and takes seriously transboundary interests. Headwaters protection and the management of resources are responsibilities we have to ensure the safety and security of water for our downstream neighbours. Water flows north to the territories, east to the other prairie provinces and south to Montana. We work closely with these jurisdictions through long-standing agreements to share and preserve the ecological integrity of cross-border waters.

We have a number of priorities to increase and maintain the availability of water to support various users in our province while still maintaining the highest standards of water conservation and treatment. We are undertaking new studies for reservoirs and storage, assessing water conservation efficiency and productivity and modernizing information systems to allow real-time digital information.

For drought, we've released a drought response plan for 2024. Major water users in the South Saskatchewan River basin have signed water-sharing agreements, and we've put forward legislative changes to enhance action during emergencies.

We're also investing $125 million for new drought and flood water protection, about $9 million for wetland replacement programs and $3.5 million for watershed resiliency and restoration.

In closing, I'd like to mention the importance of provincial jurisdiction as the federal government reviews the Canada Water Act and establishes the Canada water agency. We hold different accountabilities: The Government of Alberta is the primary manager for water use, watershed management, water allocation, drinking water standards, source water protection and power development. The federal government’s role focuses on other issues like international or interprovincial pollution, clean water for federally managed land, and fisheries, shipping and navigation.

It's critical for provinces to be at the forefront of any discussions where federal legislative updates may be considered that impact provincial jurisdiction. I encourage this committee to consider the roles that provinces and territories have as leaders and stewards of water as it works through its mandate.

Thank you for this opportunity to provide a very quick overview of our system.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you.

We'll go to Mr. Kanigan now for up to five minutes.

[Julian Kanigan, Assistant Deputy Minister, Environmental Management, Monitoring and Climate Change, Department of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Northwest Territories]

Thank you.

I appreciate the invitation to share with the committee today the Government of Northwest Territories' perspectives on the federal government's role in protecting and managing Canada's freshwater resources.

I wish to acknowledge that I'm situated today in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. These are treaty lands and home to many indigenous peoples, including the Yellowknives Dene, Tlicho and Métis, and I'm grateful to be on this land.

Freshwater monitoring and stewardship are key portfolios for the government in the Northwest Territories' Department of Environment and Climate Change, but much of the work that we do involves partnerships, including those with the federal government, mainly the Department of Environment and Climate Change, Natural Resources Canada and CIRNAC. We value these excellent partnerships and the support we receive from federal departments on freshwater initiatives, and we want to see them continue.

I want to provide you with some background NWT context before sharing our priorities regarding federal activities and investment in fresh water in the north.

As you likely know, the Northwest Territories is a very large land mass, coupled with a very small population of about 40,000 people spread out over 33 small communities. Devolution of Northwest Territories' lands and resources to the GNWT occurred in 2014, but federal investment in the north remains key.

Almost half of our residents are indigenous, and fresh water, in particular, is of great importance to all of the indigenous peoples of the NWT. When we speak about fresh water in the NWT, much of it is located in the Mackenzie River basin. That basin covers 1.8 million kilometres over five provincial and territorial jurisdictions. It's about 20% of Canada's land mass. It serves as a water source, but it's also a channel for transportation, for food, and for connection to culture and language for as long as people have lived on the lands that surround it.

As you know, rapid climate change has been affecting the NWT's freshwater resources for decades. Average annual air temperatures have risen up to 4°C in the northwestern NWT since the 1970s. Climate change modelling predicts that the Mackenzie Valley will continue to experience some of the greatest air temperature increases in the world in coming decades. We've experienced unprecedented extreme variability in water flow in the Northwest Territories over the last five years. As an example, water levels in the Great Slave Lake, a water body with a period of record over 60 years, went from very low in 2018 to very high, and then record highs in 2020 and 2022. Now we're down again to a record low in late 2023 and 2024.

Water levels on Great Slave Lake are determined by conditions upstream in the Mackenzie River basin, so these extreme conditions represent huge volumes of water, in the order of cubic kilometres, and this translates into many metres of exposed shoreline. However, more practically it means that if transportation goods can't be delivered by barge to remote communities, there's an increased cost of living for residents and to the GNWT. Some of the other experiences that we're facing are thawing permafrost and an increase in historic flooding events, as seen in some of the photos provided, as well as an increase in the frequency and size of wildfires, based on levels of drought never seen before in NWT forests.

Because of these new extremes, it's very difficult to predict how the Mackenzie River basin will respond in the future under different climate warming scenarios. NWT does have some of the largest bodies of water in the world. We're seeing big changes. Research, science and partnerships with indigenous knowledge-holders are critical for understanding and mitigating these changes. One key point I'd like to make is that increased federal support in freshwater research and monitoring is essential.

Through the Canada water agency and funding through the freshwater action plan, we would like to see federal support for a northern climate water hub. No such hub exists in the north, and Yellowknife would provide a central location for the entire Mackenzie basin. This hub could be a base for critical research on climate change and its impacts on fresh water, encouraging collaboration among scientists, indigenous knowledge-holders and policy-makers, and it would be responsive to the NWT's unique co-management regulatory system for land and water decision-making.

I also want to highlight the role of the Mackenzie River Basin Board and the need for increased federal support there. The federal government plays a key role in convening provinces and territories through the board, which was created in 1997 through the Mackenzie River Basin Transboundary Waters Master Agreement between the Government of Canada, Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C., Yukon and NWT, but its potential has been limited by a lack of resources. We see that an increase in staff and financial capacity for the board's secretariat could enable greater research and community engagement while allowing provinces and territories to focus on the implementation of their own bilateral agreements.

Finally, the federal government, through Environment and Climate Change Canada, plays a key role in regulating the lower Athabasca oil sands. The federal government is now considering developing regulations that would allow the release of oil sands-treated effluent.

As you know, the NWT is downstream of these potential releases. As you may imagine, NWT residents have a deep concern about this possibility, so strong regulation of oil sands is critical for our downstream interests.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you.

We're going to have to stop there and go to Ms. Jirousek, who is splitting her time with Mr. Mulligan. Is that correct?

Go ahead, please.

[Heather Jirousek, Director, Water Resources, Department of Environment, Government of Yukon]

We represent the Government of Yukon's water resources branch, which is responsible for water monitoring, policy, flood forecasting and providing water-related expertise to mitigate impacts to Yukon's water.

I'm Heather Jirousek, director of the water resources branch with Yukon's Department of Environment. Joining me is Brendan Mulligan, the senior scientist for groundwater with the water resources branch. As mentioned, we will co-present.

We are joining from the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. We partner with all Yukon first nations on various water initiatives.

We would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to provide our input to this process today.

In the Yukon, climate change is resulting in significant impacts to water systems. One example is flooding, where we have seen three consecutive years of record flooding in the territory, resulting in real impacts and hazards for people living in the Yukon. With climate change-induced increases to extreme weather patterns, ongoing changes to flood risk are expected across the territory.

The brief that we've submitted outlines seven theme areas as opportunities to tailor the federal role to best advance collaborative stewardship of water in a way that we think benefits the Yukon and all Canadians. Today, we will shed water on four of these themes, starting with supporting the understanding of groundwater.

[Brendan Mulligan, Senior Scientist, Groundwater, Water Resources, Department of Environment, Government of Yukon]

Thank you, Heather.

Groundwater is a critical resource in the Yukon. Ninety-seven per cent of Yukoners depend on groundwater as a potable water source, making us the second-most groundwater-dependent jurisdiction in Canada, after Prince Edward Island. Of course, groundwater is not only critical to humans, but it sustains ecosystems by maintaining water levels, regulating temperatures and delivering nutrients to rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands.

In recent years, the population of the Yukon has grown faster per capita than that of any other jurisdiction in Canada. Groundwater monitoring and aquifer mapping and characterization are increasingly important as our groundwater use increases and as various pressures increase the potential for adverse impacts to groundwater availability and quality.

Our branch of the Yukon government is fortunate to have long-standing, effective agreements with the Government of Canada concerning surface water quality and quantity monitoring. Despite the critical importance of groundwater, our government has no such agreement with the Government of Canada concerning groundwater monitoring or aquifer mapping and characterization.

Our first recommendation is for the governments of Canada and Yukon to enter into an agreement under the Canada Water Act to provide for programs to collect, process and provide data on the quality, quantity, distribution and use of groundwater. This is consistent with the recommendation made in a brief that this committee received from the International Association of Hydrogeologists.

Our second recommendation is to consider a cost-sharing agreement with the geological survey of Canada to support aquifer mapping and characterization in the Yukon.

[Heather Jirousek]

Our fourth theme that's provided in the brief is transboundary water management. Yukon shares borders with Northwest Territories, British Columbia and Alaska. There are a variety of arrangements in the Yukon and neighbouring jurisdictions that support transboundary stewardship at the watershed scale. However, our largest watershed, which is the Yukon River watershed, has no formal transboundary water management arrangement.

Recommendations five and six in our brief are for the Government of Canada to support multi-stakeholder and rights holder watershed discussions for the Yukon River and to consider the establishment of an international joint commission board or similar arrangement to support coordinated stewardship of the Yukon River.

We are actively involved in water management agreements in the Mackenzie River basin, which is a priority watershed in the federal freshwater action plan. Recommendation 12 in our brief is that federal funding should be made available as soon as possible for freshwater projects in the Mackenzie River basin.

Theme number five in our brief is understanding and aligning Government of Yukon and indigenous treaty rights. First nations are a key partner in governance in the Yukon and are taking leadership in water stewardship and monitoring in the territory. Indigenous knowledge systems are valid and powerful ways of knowing the world and knowing water, yet most agencies were founded in a time when this knowledge was not recognized as it is now. Recommendation seven in our brief is that the review of the Canada Water Act needs to be aligned with modern treaties in the Yukon. Federal legislation needs to make space for the recognition of indigenous-led water strategies and the role of indigenous land guardians in contributing to water data monitoring networks.

The sixth theme is climate change adaptation and flood risk information. I began our remarks by emphasizing the impacts of recent flooding in the Yukon. To ensure resilience to flood risk in our changing climate, we need to ensure that our forecasts are supported by sufficient monitoring data and that resources are available to ensure that flood hazard maps are generated reliably and used to support resilient communities.

Recommendation nine in our brief is to ensure that work towards a national strategy on flood and drought is informed by the realities of a northern and small jurisdiction and understands the importance of supporting network expansion to meet data requirements for forecasting.

Finally, recommendation 10 in our brief is to continue to advance the delivery of the flood hazard and identification mapping program and consider additional work to develop resources to support jurisdictions in the flood resilience work necessary upon completion of flood hazard maps.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Thank you very much.

We'll now move on to the rounds of questions.

Mr. Kram, the floor is yours.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to all the witnesses for joining us.

I've often said that one of the most enjoyable parts of this job is that we get to meet people from far and wide—from different parts of this country. That certainly includes the territories today.

A couple of months ago, the committee heard from representatives—also from the Yukon Territory—of Western Copper and Gold about their Casino mine project northwest of Whitehorse, which is going to be one of the largest critical mineral mines in Canada once it's complete. According to the company's literature, they've applied for a water use licence from the territorial government.

I am wondering if the witnesses from the Yukon Territory could share with the committee the regulatory approval process that is currently in place for new mines such as this.

[Heather Jirousek]

In our branch, we provide expert advice on assessment processes. The Casino mine will need to go through various processes in order to be permitted for those activities. Brendan, as our senior scientist of groundwater, is one of the experts within our branch who would review the project and provide input in terms of any impacts on and mitigation for groundwater. We would do the same in regard to surface water quality, water balance, water levels and the amount of water.

Our branch reviews those, but we are not the regulatory board. The Yukon Water Board is responsible for that. The board is represented by one-third federal government, one-third Yukon government and one-third first nations in the Yukon.

Brendan, is there anything you would add to that?

[Brendan Mulligan]

Thanks, Heather.

Yes, I would add that any proponent would first need to go through assessment under the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act. This is federal legislation that applies here and is administered by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board, or YESAB, as we call it. Following that assessment, a water-use licence could be pursued from the Yukon Water Board, which Heather referenced.

In this instance, my understanding is that the proponent is somewhere in the YESAB process.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

You described the “one-third, one-third, one-third” arrangement that is in place. What can we do to make sure the federal government is not the slow third or squeaky wheel, so to speak, so that projects can move forward in the Yukon Territory?

[Heather Jirousek]

That's a good question.

I believe the people who represent the federal government on the Yukon Water Board are here. I'm sorry. We are not part of the Yukon Water Board, so we're not really sure how that works. Certainly, within the Yukon government, we provide our expertise and input on those issues.

Brendan, from a groundwater perspective, you may know of colleagues and whether or not they provide input on some of those technical issues. Perhaps that's something you're able to speak on.

[Brendan Mulligan]

Thanks, Heather.

The only comment I would add is that, as far as I can tell, the federal government participates in the socio-economic and environmental assessment process under YESAB.

However, at least in recent years, they seem to have limited participation in the water-use licensing process. They are represented on the Yukon Water Board, but they haven't provided technical interventions in that process in recent years. I know they did that previously.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

You mentioned in your opening statements the Canada water agency playing a positive role when it comes to groundwater in the Yukon.

Could you elaborate for the committee on what exactly that would look like and why the Canada water agency could play a useful role, instead of just having the territorial government do it all?

[Brendan Mulligan]

I can attempt to field that question.

Heather, please feel welcome to add to my response.

Despite heavy reliance on groundwater as a potable water source, as I mentioned in my remarks, we have very limited capacity to understand our hydrogeological conditions here. Our groundwater program was formally established just 10 years ago, so it's very young. We've added a few staff, but we have a very small team. We very much rely on partnership with academics, federal government, first nations, municipal governments and consultants to advance our agenda.

However, we've had limited support on groundwater from the federal government to date. Because of hydrogeological capacity, as I understand it, the federal government is spread across multiple departments. There are hydrogeologists working in Environment and Climate Change Canada, NRCan and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The CWA could play a role to help break down those silos and have those experts supporting people like us who need it.

As I mentioned, we receive considerable support from Environment and Climate Change Canada, in particular on surface water quality and quantity monitoring. However, there is no such support on the groundwater front, and that would be very welcome.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Finally, just very quickly, it has been proposed that connecting the power grids of Yukon Territory and the province of British Columbia could have environmental and economic benefits. It would be related to B.C.'s Site C hydro dam, which obviously would affect water policy as well. I'm wondering if you could briefly provide for the committee what some of the economic and environmental benefits would be of such a proposal.

[The Chair, Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia]

That's a pretty big question, actually, and we're out of time. Would you be able to send something in writing?

[Heather Jirousek]

That's certainly not part of what we work on, but we could follow up on that question.