Mr. Speaker, earlier this year the Minister of Transport announced his intention to destaff 35 B.C. lighthouses. A massive protest prompted the minister to announce pubic consultations with mariners in British Columbia prior to any final decision to destaff. However a consultant hired by the government, Mr. Norman Mathews, a former secretary general of the International Association for Lighthouse Authority, has recently made comments in the press in advance of the public meetings that destaffing lighthouses is a done deal.
Given Mr. Mathews' statements the people of British Columbia, and I am sure all people of Canada, want to know why the minister would perpetrate this sham of consultation when his department has already received its marching orders.
This appearance of public consultation is both expensive and cruel. It raises hopes in the hearts of many that manned lighthouses will be maintained and it is costly.
I ask the Prime Minister: Is this the kind of public consultation the Liberals had in mind when drafting their infamous red book?