moved for leave to introduce Bill C-494, An Act to amend the Navigable Waters Protection Act (Main River and Bay du Nord River).
Mr. Speaker, my private member's bill would amend the Navigable Waters Protection Act to restore protection of the Main and the Bay du Nord Rivers on the island of Newfoundland. The Main River, on the great Northern Peninsula, became the first river in Newfoundland and Labrador to be designated in the Canadian heritage rivers system. The Bay du Nord River, in the Bay du Nord Wilderness Reserve, was the second river designated.
This bill is designed to reverse negligent Conservative changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act. Thanks to the Conservatives, our heritage rivers and the right of the public to have guaranteed access to them is no longer enshrined in legislation. That is not good enough.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)