We don't have any data on boat sales. However, we do know that many environmental problems in the lakes are created by boats, wake boats in particular.
We think there should be national standards, similar to those that exist in Vermont. We can try to simplify the current forms, but if we don't create national standards to ensure that people have good practices and use the right types of boats in the right places, municipalities will always have a hard time policing navigation. In fact, both the federal government and the municipalities will be bogged down in red tape, so we have to come up with national standards. Under the Constitution, that is a federal responsibility.
The other thing that is extremely important is that we have to have an overall economic vision. Yes, boat sales are extremely important, and I'm not against that industry. However, there are also environmental costs. As soon as a lake or a river starts to have environmental problems, it can cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to try to restore them to good condition. We talked about the Richelieu River earlier. In some cases, it is simply not possible. So you have to be able to weigh all of those things in an economic analysis model. Again, this is a federal responsibility.
I think we have made a lot of progress in recent years on the technical and regulatory front. Now, we need to take this to another level and have a more comprehensive vision in order to leave our children with healthy lakes and rivers. To do that, we have to have a broader economic vision.