Thank you, Madam Minister, for attending with your officials here today. It's always a pleasure to hear you speak and to listen to the answers you give.
I want to preface my questions with the comment that this is truly a historic occasion. It is truly the first urban park in our country. I think that anybody who is well informed about environmental issues has to recognize that it's as a result of the commitment of this government to conservation and to connecting Canadians with the environment that we are taking this historic first step. I think also that anyone who is familiar with these issues has to recognize that it will be a work in progress and that the act itself does allow for future expansion, for further land to be devoted to it, and for the management plan yet to be developed and all of those details to be filled in.
For goodness' sake, after so many years of discussion, the suggestion of the Ontario government that at the last minute they should throw a spanner in the works, put a spoke in the wheel, and stop even the framework of this legislation from being enacted is almost beyond belief, quite frankly. It is time to move forward in creating Canada's first national urban park. In fact, I understand that it's one of the largest urban parks in the world, and I think the government can be rightly proud of that.
I understand that one of the issues we face is the fact that there are farmers in this area. I'm sure my colleague Mr. McKay will remember that under the Trudeau Liberals in the 1970s there was in fact a plan to evict farmers from their lands. They were given short-term, one-year leases to farm what I understand is class 1 farmland.
The Liberals endorsed a plan for the Rouge Valley that would completely evict farmers from this class 1 farmland, some of which has been farmed, I'm told, for over 400 years. I would like to hear from you, Minister, about how this bill will support the hard-working farmers that are in this area and how the bill reconciles their interests with that of the first national urban park.