Mr. Speaker, it is with pleasure that I speak tonight in support of the amendments put forward by the Bloc, by my colleague from Gaspé.
I am also glad to speak against this ridiculous attempt by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the government to charge fees for navigational aid services, whether it is for dredging or deicing the St. Lawrence River, without waiting for the results of economic impact studies.
I appeal to your common sense. The St. Lawrence River in the province of Quebec is quite unique. In any other country, in France or anywhere else, such a huge river would be called a sea. From Godbout to Matane, for example, this river is 26 miles wide, that is close to 50 kilometres. The waters of the St. Lawrence River are inland waters in Quebec. If that river had not represented something like a huge lung for Quebec, Canada's history would have been quite different.
Indeed, if British colonial forces had not felt the need to control this waterway leading inland, they would have left the decision making and the development of our people in the hands of the Canadiens, who became known as French Canadians and are now
called Quebecers. The St. Lawrence River is an inland waterway of a different type, a type which reflects what Quebec is.
But now, without consulting the provinces, without consulting Quebec, without consulting users and without consulting those who will be affected by this decision, whose impact could be quite dramatic, the minister has decided to go ahead and give himself the power to set the fees he finds appropriate without considering the effects it could have.
This is a major decision. It reflects a lack of interest for what Quebec is. It reflects a lack of concern for the extremely important economic role the St. Lawrence River could play in terms of inland navigation and shipping. There are a large number of businesses in my riding of Mercier, in Montreal, and the bigs ones that are still around rely on a combination of rail and water transport for their operations.
They are and will continue to be affected, as will the port cities located all along the St. Lawrence River.
Because of this government decision, this very important not only economic but social and even cultural fabric of the province of Quebec is being threatened.
The bill and all the literature on it give us food for thought. A few years ago, it was decided and rightly so that polluters must pay, whatever the field. That is when the polluter pays principle became popular. From what I read about the St. Lawrence River, something quite different is happening. Now it is the users who must pay. But should they be the ones to pay? Each case should be reviewed in terms of economic impact, social responsibilities and good citizenship.
What is important is that the St. Lawrence River can continue to play its role. If, contrary to what we would be inclined to think, the government does care about the economic role of the St. Lawrence River, how can it risk jeopardizing the economic mission of its ports? How can it penalize in this way Quebec and, with the Great Lakes, Ontario, before the results of the impact studies are out?
If, at least, businesses or institutions had shown some concern or even resistance, but this is not the case, because they know how important this is for Quebec. But what will happen when those users will be asked to pay for the impacts of winter, the ice removal and the dredging required as a result of erosion and other natural events? The users in a particular context or situation will have to pay.
I also urge and pray the member for Vancouver Quadra and the other member from British Columbia whose riding I do not remember to go on an excursion on the St. Lawrence River, to try to understand why this issue goes well beyond the economic one that I just described with some emotion; it is important, but it goes well beyond that because we feel deprived of the control over this major waterway which is a great, magnificent and natural feature and which represents a unique asset, one that can also turn to our disadvantage because the fees, the rates that will be imposed could put in jeopardy its utilization for recreational, tourist and economic purposes.
We could be deprived of the full development stemming from the existence of this outstanding waterway, the St. Lawrence River, because the minister, in a totally arbitrary manner, empowers himself to impose a rate structure that could be to our disadvantage economically and favour, for instance, the harbours of northern United States.
As members, we will do everything that is feasible to prevent the government from ramming through this legislation which is appalling, unfair and which shows its complete insensitivity regarding the significance of the St. Lawrence for Quebec.