Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question of the hon. member.
The hon. member has underlined one of the things that we have been trying to do in national government, and that is to respect jurisdictions.
We have come out with an endangered species framework, the first of its kind in Canada. We have also been very careful to respect the fact that provincial governments have jurisdiction in certain areas. That is why at first blush the legislation does not cover as many species as we would like.
In launching the process of the national endangered species act, not only have we seen the leadership that was already shown in the province of Quebec which had the first endangered species legislation but we have seen a number of other provinces come on board. We expect by the time the federal act is proclaimed that we will have at least seven other provinces contributing in a constructive way to a goal that I believe we should all share, and that is protecting endangered species.
Endangered species do not respect provincial boundaries. They travel nationally and that is why I think we need a national framework, which I know even the Reform Party would support.