Environment committee  I don't know that I can give a definitive answer, but what I can tell you is if the St. Lawrence Islands National Park were to come to the 1000 Islands Community Development Corporation and request support for the costs associated with this, I think it's a pretty safe bet that my

Environment committee  I don't have those stats available to me. I can speak anecdotally.

Environment committee  I'll attempt to answer it, but I may defer to Mr. Ross or to Ms. St. Claire, or even to Gord. In Don's case, he has worked specifically in the industry. The work I've done is a little bit more as an umbrella, as an overview. We work with all sectors of the economy. I can tell yo

Environment committee  There's absolutely no denying that.

Environment committee  Gord, would you care to field this?

Environment committee  Sure. Thank you for the opportunity to answer this question. Our corporation, if I do say so myself, is one of the largest single players in economic development in the Thousand Islands. That is specifically thanks to the Government of Canada for the investment it has made into

Environment committee  I didn't speak to that issue; it may have been Don. It was about visitor services?

Environment committee  I did not speak to that issue.

Environment committee  Our community has struggled through some difficult times. There was a time when our communities were more industrial—many multinationals. A lot of those businesses have closed down. You've seen those replaced with a lot of smaller businesses, a lot of local community businesses.

Environment committee  I can tell you that across the board, with the people I work with, with the businesses we work with, with the organizations we work with, there is unanimous support for this bill. It is the reason why our member of Parliament has been pushing so forcefully to see this happen. I

Environment committee  Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for allowing me to speak to you today. My name is Tom Russell and I'm the executive director of the 1000 Islands Community Development Corporation, an organization fund