Mr. Speaker, I am happy to respond to the hon. member for Davenport who has distinguished himself in national and international environmental protection action.
As part of the contribution of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to the federal government's program to manage the deficit, the department's budget will be reduced by approximately 40 per cent over five years. To meet its budget reduction target, the department has reviewed all its programs using the following four strategies: reduction, elimination, privatization and cost recovery.
This program review has required some difficult decisions to be made regarding all departmental activities, including science programs. For example, the department will be divesting its responsibilities for over 800 recreational harbours. Research programs in parasitology and freshwater aquaculture will be eliminated and the department's major oceanographic research vessel MV Hudson will be decommissioned as part of its program review reductions.
There is no question that the department's Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg and the Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences in Burlington have made valuable contributions to the field of freshwater ecology. It has been impossible to insulate the budgets of these two centres in light of the substantial budget cuts facing the department.
Despite the reductions to its science programs across the country, the department is committed to maintaining a freshwater science program at both the Freshwater Institute and the Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. Research priorities for the freshwater science program at the Freshwater Institute include focus on the experimental lakes area, ELA, fish health diagnostics and maintenance of expertise to support the department's fish habitat management responsibilities as well as expertise on growth and reproduction of fish.
In addition to the department's core funding for the ELA, the department is continuing to seek partnerships that will provide long term funding stability for the ELA program.
In the Great Lakes, the department will focus on habitat restoration in areas of concern in the lower lakes, research on accidentally introduced species and the measurement of toxic contaminants in fish.
Government-wide, it is important to note that there are a number of agencies, particularly Environment Canada, that have freshwater research programs. Environment Canada operates such major facilities as the National Water Research Institute and the National Hydrology Research Institute.
The budget for Environment Canada's programs in freshwater is much larger than that of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The reduction in the department cannot be downplayed, but the government is and will continue to be an active and major force in issues affecting the freshwater environment.