Mr. Speaker, talk of increased exports is taking on visible meaning in my riding of Sarnia-Lambton.
Tomorrow morning hundreds of feet above the St. Clair River, the iron workers of local 700 will put in place the final beam joining the two halves of our second Bluewater Bridge in Point Edward.
This new international crossing is clear evidence of the growth of trade between Canada and the United States, and in particular, Ontario and the Great Lakes states. With approximately 5,000 trucks crossing each day on the existing bridge, this second span will be open for the anticipated surge of 10,000 trucks daily by the millennium.
I look forward to joining with Councillor Barbara Horner, the Commissioners of the Bluewater Bridge Authority and the thousands of proud area residents in celebrating this new link.
Increased trade is not just a statistic, it is tangible in Sarnia-Lambton, now the gateway to the NAFTA superhighway.