Mr. Speaker, my hometown of Hamilton has asked for and must get help from the Conservative government to deal with pollution at our airport. The issue is straightforward if we believe in the principle of polluter pay.
When the federal government owned the Hamilton airport lands prior to 1987, it operated a firefighting training pad there. At the time, the firefighting foam that was being used contained perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, which has since shown up both at the airport and at points downstream. Links have been made between PFOS and compromised immune systems as well as certain types of cancer.
In 1986, the airport was transferred to the municipality and now the federal government is washing its hands of any responsibility, essentially just saying “buyer beware”. However, the fact remains that the pollution occurred while the federal government owned and operated the airport lands. Therefore, the federal government must take responsibility for what took place on its watch and must act now to assist and contribute to the city's remediation efforts. Anything else is a gross abdication of its responsibility to protect both human health and the environment.