Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I wonder if my hon. friend from Sudbury could help me figure out a puzzle. The Conservatives say they have eliminated millions of lakes from the Navigable Waters Protection Act because millions of lakes were getting in the way of municipalities and cottage owners. Could he posit why it is that many of these millions of lakes, 90% of the lakes removed, do not exist anywhere near a municipality or a cottage owner?
Glenn Thibeault: Mr. Speaker, I really do wish I could figure that riddle out. When we are looking at 97 lakes and 62 rivers that are being protected right across the country, that is not even half of the lakes and rivers that are in my own city.
We call our city the city of lakes. We have done a great job in Sudbury of re-greening. If we look at how we used to smelt and how we used to mine, I am very proud of my community and what we have been able to do to change. I take my kids swimming right in downtown Sudbury. We fish there. People have drinking water there. Unfortunately, the millions of lakes right across our country, which we are so proud of, are no longer being protected under the Navigable Waters Protection Act. That is shameful, because it truly is scary what kind of country we will be leaving for our kids if the government continues to go down this path.