Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Leyburne, the federal government's announcement to increase the size of protected land to 30% of the country's land base is of concern. This initiative could hinder resource development particularly in the region I represent, one of the big ridings in this country.
I'll mention a few names. You start near the Quebec border in Kirkland Lake, which is a gold mine producer. You move on to Matheson and Val Gagné, which have very strong agriculture. It's probably one of the country's fastest-developing areas in agriculture. You continue on Highway 11 to Cochrane, which has gold mines and forestry. Smooth Rock Falls, Kapuskasing and Hearst have strong forestry. Then you go to Hudson Bay and Peawanuck, and back to Moosonee. Then there are gold mines around Cochrane again and lumber. In going to Timmins, you go through one of the largest nickel deposits. There are gold mine producers in Timmins. There is Chapleau and forestry.
Now, where is this 30% of the land base going to come from? What measures are being taken to ensure that the resources of these communities are not going to be affected by this new designation?
I named a few communities, but there are 300 forestry communities across this country. There are probably as many in mining and thousands in agriculture. What measures are being taken?