Mr. Hockin:

Mr. Speaker, the Hon. Member for London East (Mr. Jepson) needs no help from the Member for London West, but I am struck by the comments just made by the Hon. Member from the Liberal Party. When we as the Government are asked for borrowing authority, we asked for much less of a reserve than the Liberal Government asked for last year. It

February 8, 1985

asked for a much greater sum of money sight unseen than we did on the reserve portion of that borrowing authority Bill. The tradition of our Party is not to ask for money for projects that are not yet committed to. We were trying to trim the borrowing Bill, which we did, compared to the previous administration. Therefore, his point with regard to the comments made by the Hon. Member for London East are, I feel, without validity.

Mr. Tom Hockin (London West):

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources. Can the Minister assure the House that if there is a take-over of Union Gas by Unicorp, this will not negatively affect the credit status of Union Gas, or negatively affect the crucial role of Union Gas in ensuring security of gas supplies to all of eastern Canada?

Oral Questions

Mr. Tom Hockin (London West):

Mr. Speaker, I want to make a statement about an historic decision made last week, a decision which I believe has the potential to bring great economic and social benefit to Canada. The Canadian Olympic Association has chosen London, Ontario, to be the Canadian city to host the Pan-American Games six years from now. It only remains for Canada to be chosen instead of the one other Pan-American country applying.

The economic benefit to London, to southwestern Ontario, and in a broader sense to Canada, of hosting these games has been conservatively estimated at $500 million. The Games will provide at least 150,000 days of work for construction workers, and an estimated 400 jobs for the period before, during, and after the games. I ask, therefore, that this House and the Government of Canada work to ensure that Canada is chosen to host these games so that this great tourist opportunity and all the other prodigious economic and social benefits will in fact flow to our country.

Mr. Tom Hockin (London West):

Mr. Speaker, as the Hon. Member for London West I am pleased to participate in this debate. My riding is surrounded by three beautiful lakes. The occasionally turbulent Medway Creek and the beautiful Thames River also run through my riding. London has a system of wells which are among the most elaborate and the earliest in the history of Canada. The question of water drinkability and water safety concerns me and my constituents.

For this reason I wanted to explore and outline the system of protection and enhancement which exists at the federal level. In reviewing the Bill it is necessary to be aware of the responsibilities of the federal and provincial Governments. Also it is necessary to be aware of the areas of close co-operation between those two levels. This is an important concern in a Bill such as this one where there is a need for full and complete discussion with the provinces. The federal Government is already deeply involved in drinking water safety as are the provincial agencies.

I should like to review the range of activities carried out by the Government so that we may better put this Act into perspective. It should be appreciated that we are already involved in a wide range of activities, some of which go beyond the scope of the proposed Bill. About 85 per cent of Canadians obtain their drinking water from municipal water distribution systems. These systems include facilities for both the distribution of water and the provision of the treatment necessary to ensure safe water. While about 90 per cent of municipalities in Canada have water disinfection facilities, only about a third of them have filtration systems, a basic component of conventional water treatment. There is a great deal of regional disparity in the country in the availability of treated water. Few municipalities have facilities which could be called state of the art.

Responsibility for matters relating to drinking water supplies in Canada is, like many things, multijurisdictional. Responsibilities are shared among federal departments and provincial and municipal Governments. The provinces have the primary responsibility to protect and control water sources from which water supplies are drawn. That is their primary responsibility. Also they are to define the standards which drinking water must meet. Municipalities and water utilities are generally delegated authority to produce and deliver safe drinking water to residents. The federal Government has similar responsibilities within federal lands and territories. In addition, federal responsibilities include the conduct of research to assess water quality and to develop guidelines for drinking water quality. The federal and provincial Governments share responsibility for international water sources such as the Great Lakes.

January 21, 1985

Co-operation among federal departments and provincial or municipal agencies is very close. For instance, first, major studies of drinking water treatment have been undertaken with federal and provincial co-operation. The federal-provincial working group on drinking water is responsible for making recommendations regarding Canadian drinking water quality guidelines. Second, in the past, many water treatment plants were constructed with federal assistance through CMHC. While no funds are currently available for such programs on a regular basis, direct assistance to specific drinking water projects for municipalities has been provided by the federal Government under special programs. Third, the federal Government provides assistance to the three prairie provinces for well and dug-out construction in rural areas under the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act.

This Government is concerned about the safety of drinking water and is already involved in a wide range of activities involving a number of departments. Under the direction of the Minister of National Health and Welfare (Mr. Epp), this Government develops guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality, in collaboration with the provinces and with the help of the Department of the Environment. These guidelines are used by responsible agencies for developing drinking water requirements and for assessing the safety of tapwater.

The Department of National Health and Welfare also conducts national surveys for specific contaminants in drinking water, toxicological and epidemiological studies on relationships between contaminants and human health, and research into drinking water contamination problems. Extensive work is also carried out by that Department to develop new analytical technology; to investigate techniques for water treatment for drinking purposes, alone or in conjunction with the provinces; and to conduct research and evaluation studies on home water treatment devices for private supplies and individual homes. All of this information is made available to the public in the form of publications and special information releases.

The Department of National Health and Welfare also enforces bottled water regulations and revises them, as required, and monitors drinking water quality in the workplace for all federal public servants in urban and rural environments and federal ships.

This Government also has considerable involvement in providing safe drinking water to Indian and northern communities. The Department of National Health and Welfare monitors raw and potable water quality and the operation of treatment plants, and provides advice on the design of community water services in Indian and northern communities. This work is carried out in collaboration with the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and also involves training native water treatment operators.

The Department of National Health and Welfare also administers the "potable water regulations for common carriers" under the Health and Welfare Act. This important Act requires the approval and monitoring of all water supplies on interprovincial and international trains, buses, ships, aircraft,

Canada Safe Drinking Water Act

ferries and Great Lakes vessels. At the federal level, the health-related aspects of drinking water are the concern of the Department of National Health and Welfare. There are a large number of other human health-related concerns, including food, drugs and medical devices for which National Health and Welfare is responsible, and therefore it is appropriate that the Department retain the responsibility for drinking water.

I have gone on at length about the responsibilities assumed by the Department of National Health and Welfare for drinking water safety. Other federal Departments also contribute to ensuring the safety of Canadian drinking water. Environment Canada has commissioned an inquiry on federal water policy, chaired by Mr. Pearse, which has been conducting hearings across Canada on this most important topic. The results of these hearings will have a bearing on the issue of safe drinking water, and it is premature to assume what the conclusions of the inquiry will be. Environment Canada believes that it is important to protect the rivers and lakes that are our drinking water supplies. This preventive approach is surely much safer and in the long run less expensive than building expensive treatment plants to produce safe drinking water or trying to clean up contaminated rivers and lakes. Environment Canada is following this strategy and has identified as a high priority the need to identify and assess the quality and quantity of rivers, lakes and groundwaters that are major sources of drinking water. This will be carried out using existing federal-provincial agreements on monitoring the quality and quantity of water.

Environment Canada is also developing, with the provinces and the Department of National Health and Welfare, water quality guidelines for raw drinking water supplies. These guidelines will be published under the auspices of the Canadian Council of Resource and Environment Ministers and will be applicable to all Canadian waters. They will define the quality of rivers and lakes. Having defined the water quality that is necessary for our supplies, it is also necessary to put in place appropriate control measures. This will be done. In order to help protect drinking water supplies, Environment Canada develops effluent guidelines and pollution control initiatives to help protect surface and groundwater supplies.

Let us now turn to the Fisheries Act and see what is being done. Environment Canada has developed effluent guidelines and pollution control initiatives in eight sectors under the Fisheries Act. Environment Canada maintains an inventory of municipal waterworks as well as waterworks systems and it is evolving new guidelines.

In conclusion, the range and nature of these activities, and I have only introduced some of them, show that the system is in place and that there is a concern for safe drinking water. A number of studies and mechanisms of co-operation are in place. Our commitment to water safety and to the quality of drinking water in Canada should not be doubted. I believe that the machinery for co-operation among Governments is there and that it can enhance and protect water in this country. If they do not, we will not hesitate to improve on them.

January 21, 1985

Adjournment Debate

Mr. Tom Hockin (London West):

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport. One week from today the control zone over the airport at London, Ontario, is scheduled to be reduced from 10 miles to five miles. This is as a result of a Ministry of Transport directive issued last year. According to the base user organizations in London, this reduction raises-