moved for leave to introduce Bill C-528, An Act to provide funding for the conservation of national historic sites.
Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank the hon. member for Edmonton Centre for seconding my private member's bill.
I am happy to rise today to introduce this bill. It is an act to provide funding for the conservation of national historic sites. This bill would provide the means by which individuals and corporations could donate money to be used for the preservation of national historic sites and receive tax receipts. It also sets out how the money would be used.
Our national historic sites are important cultural places that help link us to our past, but there are costs to repair them, and those costs are increasing all the time. In my time at the St. Lawrence Parks Commission, when it oversaw the operation of Fort Henry in Kingston, I saw this first-hand. People came forward with ideas to contribute and get tax receipts.
There are additional national historic sites that need long-term support, such as the Rideau Canal in my riding of Leeds—Grenville, as well as Fort Wellington and the Delta mill and other national historic sites. This bill would help do that. It would help to see that these sites plan for the major restoration work that always needs to be done.
I look forward to this bill being debated and passed in order to help all of our national historic sites.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)