Thank you, Madam Chair.
I sit before you today to provide testimony in support of this bill. There is a broad base of support for this initiative on the north coast, where I live. The people who live in the region have been working for almost four decades to realize this day.
In our submission, you have several pieces from various municipalities that have felt compelled to provide support for this bill as well. They have written to both the Prime Minister and the minister himself. Our MP, Nathan Cullen, has felt compelled over the years to also speak on this issue. He brought forward a private member's bill some years ago with regard to the issue.
For those of us who live on the north coast, it is an extremely important place. We rely heavily on the resources within that region for economic, recreational, and personal use. We have for years feared an oil spill and the repercussions of that in terms of how our lives would fold out. I don't know how to equate for you the value that exists there for us. We have lived on that piece of land for a long time. Many of my neighbours are from first nations who have been there for centuries. We all rely upon the ocean there. We all rely upon the resources. Those resources are, to us, more important than the other industries that have been brought to us as economies. The economy we wish to see in the region is that of fish, of forestry, and of an ocean that we can rely upon for tourism for generations to come.
This bill, we hope, will provide us with the protection we've been looking for. For years and years, we have been trying to get this kind of initiative in place, to find some protection for our homes and the place in which we live. This place is a national treasure, to our minds. It's a spot that has huge abundance and great wealth in terms of the natural resources provided by the marine environment. We subsist on a lot of this, and we don't want to see it lost. We believe this bill will provide us the surety we are looking for, and provide surety for generations to come. The resources that exist there are invaluable. There's no way you could put a value or a price on this resource. Therefore, it is extremely important to us.
Canada itself has been working for the last couple of decades, feverishly in some respects, to provide protection for the oceans that surround our country, and is looking at 10% protection overall. We're hoping this bill will in turn play into that role and will help sustain that protection. For those of us who live there, it is not just a matter of an economy. It is a matter of our lifestyle and the quality of life we enjoy. For us, the belief is that it's time, as it has been for a long time, to come to this conclusion and finally protect what is an extremely beautiful place.
I'm not sure if the committee will allow it, but I have brought a cookbook for the committee members. This is not just “a” cookbook: this is part of my testimony today. It's a testimonial by the people who live in the region where I live. The recipes are their own recipes. The testimonials that accompany the recipes will in part inform you of the value we place upon those resources that are on our doorstep. It's one that we would gladly trade for...nothing. There's nothing that we could trade for it. The ocean, for us, is not just a place to generate an economy. It's a place that we live in and that sustains us.
It's time we showed this area the respect it requires. I would urge that this bill be brought forward and passed.
Thank you.