Mr. Speaker, I wish to congratulate the residents of Beaches-Woodbine, in particular Mr. Michael Liebson, for their perseverance in helping to prevent offshore dredging in Lake Ontario. The residents of the Toronto Beaches area are pleased that the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has turned down an application to dredge in Lake Ontario.
Bedrock Resources Inc. put in a proposal to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to dredge sand in Lake Ontario off the shores of my riding. The health and environmental issues raised by this proposal were critical. In its correspondence, Environment Canada stated that the quality of the material makes it acceptable for on-land use as aggregate, but it is not acceptable for open water disposal. The proponent will be separating and saving the larger grain size material, while discharging the fine silts and clays back into Lake Ontario. In our view, this is open water disposal. Environment Canada also found that the sediment plume modelling, as conducted by the proponent's consultants, was inadequate.
In addition, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans stated in its correspondence that dredging will result in the harmful alteration, disruption and destruction of fish habitat. As well, in the opinion of the-