Question Period Note: Northern Contaminated Sites Program

• Our Government is committed to the protection of human health and safety and the environment, as well as the development of economic opportunities for northerners and Indigenous partners.

• This is why our Government has renewed the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan and made significant investments in the Northern Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program.

• We will continue to collaborate with communities, Indigenous partners, Territories and interested stakeholders to protect Canadians and the environment.

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If pressed on the Northern Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program
• Our Government has invested $9.1 billion over 15 years in the Northern Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program to remediate Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada’s eight largest abandoned mine projects.

• The long-term remediation contracts that can be secured through this program will result in a significant improvement to the ongoing protection of human health and safety and the environment for northerners and Indigenous Peoples by ensuring that these large abandoned mine projects are cleaned up.
If pressed on Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan renewal
• The Government of Canada has renewed the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan, led by Environment and Climate Change Canada, with $1,476.3 million in funding over five years, starting in 2025, with CIRNAC’s allocation being $246 million.

• Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada will be able to access this funding to address many contaminated sites in its inventory.