Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to speak to Bill C-275.
I congratulate the hon. member for Davenport on this bill and also the Minister of the Environment and her parliamentary secretary for the work they are doing on this very important topic.
It is very important to take the initiatives of these people and work with them. We owe our children and our children's children our prompt attention to this very important endangered species Act.
This past year I attended two open houses at the Body Shop, one in Kingston, Ontario and one in Belleville, Ontario. This respectable company had a great display set up with everything from colouring contests to T-shirts and it encourages children to take part. It has done a great job of making people aware of endangered species around the world.
I am sure if we looked at the bottom line of the Body Shop stores across Canada and talked to the individual owners, we would find that their number one customers are the teenagers and the youth of today. Our daughter is one of those customers. I commend our youth. They understand the importance of our environment.
We are very fortunate that our children, including my daughter, Kayla Rebecca, have developed this great love for country, love for the environment and our wildlife. I realize that we do not have to go to the Body Shop to be reminded on their interest.
My colleague previously mentioned visiting schools. I also want to mention this. I was on a local school board a few years ago when we started up a community school and we now have a day care situated across the road from our home. I visit schools and day cares. Posters are plastered on the walls. It does not matter what topic is displayed, sports or the environment, we see birds and other species depicted on the posters for any topic. Our youth are very aware.
We all agree that the greatest asset of our country is our youth. We are very fortunate. They are very wise in their respect of the planet, our country, our lands and our waterways. Therefore, we owe our children attention to this now.
My riding of Hastings-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington extends from the Thousand Islands, which we are glad to share with my colleague for Kingston and the Islands. Then we circle around and go to the Bay of Quinte, the walleye capital of the world. That is where we had the live release tournament this year, the largest walleye tournament in North America with 7,000 to 8,000 fisherpeople, but they released all the fish and it made our children very happy.
I drive from my office in Napanee to Bancroft and on up to Algonquin Park. My riding touches quite a bit of Algonquin Park. Quite often I see wildlife. It is a real thrill.
The other day I was in Algonquin Park for the Art in the Park show. My wife and daughter were with me. We were driving along and a tour bus and cars were stopped. People were having the thrill of a lifetime because there was a bear in the bush. The bear was playing up for the public. The bear was standing there scratching on the trees and foraging a bit. It certainly reminds us of what we would lose and what we do lose any time we lose one species.
Someone else mentioned that when I went to school we did not pay all this attention to the environment. No, we did not but perhaps it was being introduced into our subconscious minds. One of the highlights in public school was arbour day, when we went out and planted trees. Over a few years we did plant a few thousand trees and made a small contribution. I am sure I have driven by some of those areas. The trees are tall now because that was a while ago. Trees are very important; they provide a natural habitat for birds.
When I went to school we did not have respect for the wetlands, I admit. Today our children are more curious and more in love with all of these endangered species.
What do we do? Where do we go from here? We have all heard that there is no national law to protect them. Some of the provinces have laws. I am glad to see that the federal government and Environment Canada are going to work with the provinces on this. They are going to work with different stakeholders, groups, provinces, territories, aboriginal groups and wildlife management boards.
We can learn a lot from the aboriginal groups, from the natives in our communities. Someone listening to me is going to say: "Yes, I heard about some natives that went out during the fish spawning season and speared a whole lot of fish". Yes, there are bad apples in every barrel, but I will tell you our native populations live in harmony with this country. There is much we can learn from them. They have always practised conservation.
When you tap any natural resource you leave some for seed. My uncle was a trapper many years ago, a colourful character. He made a lot of money some years trapping beaver. One day I was with him and I used an axe to cut through two and a half feet of ice on the river behind our home. He set the trap and took out a very nice beaver, but he said that was it. I went with him the next day and he said: "We will not set any more traps here. We have to leave some for the future".
I will conclude by saying I really appreciate the opportunity for me an other people to speak on this. I want to acknowledge that our youth will lead the way. They remind us every day and every weekend at home.