This is of particular interest to me. I am the regional chair of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence cities initiative, an international agency involving our indigenous allies in Canada as well as U.S. and Canadian municipalities. In the last year, we've grown from 80 individuals to, I believe, 256.
We are unbelievably proud of and excited about the creation of the federal water agency and the funding that is going in that direction. However, we need to start looking at our Great Lakes as the resources they are. They are an opportunity to protect our environment, they are an opportunity for economic growth and they are an opportunity for true environmental stewardship.
When the U.S. government is beating us to the punch in environmental stewardship, I know it's time for us to actually make changes in our country. The reality is that Cobourg Beach is just one of thousands of communities along our Great Lakes coastlines that need help from this level of government in the form of dedicated infrastructure funding.
Thank you.