Fort Simpson (July 28/06) - Instead of sitting around a table in Ottawa discussing the expansion of the Nahanni National Park Reserve, NDP leader Jack Layton is getting some first- hand experience.

Layton and a group of people, including his wife Olivia Chow, MP Dennis Bevington and his wife Joan and five other paddlers are taking a six-day guided canoe trip down the South Nahanni River.

In Fort Simpson before leaving for the park, Layton said the trip is part of a summer of learning.

During the trip, Layton said he will be studying the proposed expansion. The process that's currently looking at the expansion is a good one, he said.

"Let's hope we can find a way forward," said Layton.

Dennis Bevington, the NDP member of parliament for the Western Arctic, said he generally supports parks.

"This is a time in the North were we have to make decisions on land and expansion," said Bevington.

In the case of the Nahanni, there has to be a careful co-management agreement so aboriginal people can continue their traditional pursuits, said Bevington.

Many people are also interested in possible resources, he noted.

Layton is also using the trip to ask people about climate change. Layton said that many elders in the North have told him about rivers and lakes breaking up close to three weeks early.

"We believe our government should be taking climate change seriously," Layton said.

If we are seeing these changes with a temperature rise of just one degree, imagine what will happen at five degrees, Bevington noted.

Now is the time to take this seriously before it's too late to do anything, he added.

Although he's partially here for work, canoeing the Nahanni has long been on Layton's list of waters to paddle.

When he met his wife Olivia Chow 20 years ago, she was a white water canoeist and introduced him to the idea of the Nahanni.

"Having an NDP member of parliament in the north, it just seemed like the perfect opportunity," said Layton.

Before coming, Layton and Chow took some training to brush up on the necessary paddling skills. Stopping in Fort Simpson overnight before the canoe trip was Layton's first visit to the village.

"It's just gorgeous," he said.