Mr. Speaker, indeed the member has underlined a very serious concern. If the proposed amendments that have passed the House of Representatives proceed through the Senate without amendment, they will gut the current provisions of an international agreement which affects the drinking water of 50 million people on both sides of the border.
The member will know the single largest international body of water is the Great Lakes. We do not intend to allow the Great Lakes water quality agreement to be watered down. We have been in touch with the office of the president.
Today I myself have contacted by letter the administrator responsible for the Environmental Protection Agency. We have also been in contact with Ambassador Blanchard by way of letter in advance of the decision of Congress.
We are going to do everything we can to ensure the amendments put forth by Congress do not see the light of day. We do not want to put Canadians' health and the environment at risk, which would be the effect of accepting these amendments.