Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm very interested in this bill and very interested in the explanation you gave. I will only ask you this rhetorically, because you already know the answer, but it's an answer that everybody else in Ontario always fails. The most historic community in Ontario is Moose Factory, on the James Bay coast. It was founded before any other community, and it was founded because that's where the furs were brought out. The furs were brought up the Ottawa River with the Algonquins and passed into Cree territory. That relationship defined Ontario, as you say.
I think this bill is important for a number of reasons. First of all, there is a recognition of this important role in my region, which is the size of Great Britain. This is not just a sport; this is a cultural way of life.
It certainly is a huge economic driver. We see that when our fishing lodges and hunting lodges are hit through a number of economic downturns: it affects our whole region. But I'm wary of stressing the economics argument; I think it can always be used against us. In the logging arguments, I heard people tell us that if we picked mushrooms, we'd be better off at the end of the day. They could make an argument for that over logging.
The argument to me is that these are deeply felt cultural activities that people relate to the land with and that should be celebrated as such. We can make the economic arguments and we can make all the other arguments, but would you agree that there's a fundamental relationship, that for rural people and for city people who want to go out into the territory, there's a fundamental relationship that's a cultural expression?