Mr. Speaker, I would like to give notice that I will be sharing my time with the member for Hamilton-Wentworth.
It gives me great pleasure to speak on this very important bill today. It is such a relevant bill for the city of Toronto. I want to go back to the Prime Minister's very first speech in Toronto after he was elected about four years ago. During that first speech in Toronto the Prime Minister said that Toronto would play a very
important part in the economic renewal of the country. Because the people of the greater Toronto area came on side with the Liberal Party, the Prime Minister during the last election said that instruments would be put in place to ensure that the economic revitalization of the city of Toronto, which is so important to the rest of the country, would happen. Today, thanks to the Minister of Transport, thanks to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, the hon. member for Hamilton West, the author of the Keyes report, we now have Toronto named as a Canada port authority in the new Canada marine act.
For those of us who have been working in the Toronto caucus over the last few years on economic revitalization through tourism, recreation and commerce, this bill, by recognizing Toronto as a port authority, will finally give the proper tools to those who understand our city and the importance of the presence of the Government of Canada in the overall economic renewal of the city of Toronto.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the leadership of Charles Parmalae of the Toronto Harbour Commission, the leadership of Harold Pereunboom, Howard Joy, Gary Reid, Bill Jackman and many others. I wish I had more than five minutes to deal with this very important legislation.
It is important to realize the work that was done in setting up the Toronto port authority, which will now have special Government of Canada status. The work which was done to make that happen is unimaginable. It has been a long arduous task, but today in the nation's boardroom we celebrate the fact that we finally have an all-party agreement to proceed with this designation. That, in itself, is a rare achievement in the House.
I know there are a number of people in Toronto who from time to time wonder about the commitment of the Government of Canada to that city. Sometimes they wonder whether the Toronto members of Parliament are giving full force to the economic renewal which is needed in that city.
It is no secret that many young people in Toronto are unemployed. One of the sectors of the economy that is counted on heavily to help support those unemployed Canadians is tourism. In the last four years Parliament has quadrupled the tourism marketing budget to ensure that the conventions, the trade shows, the entertainment industry, the hotel and restaurant industries of Toronto are provided all the necessary tools.
To be able to stand in the House on the eve of an election and say that the Government of Canada's presence through the Toronto port authority has once again been revitalized is a very meaningful opportunity for me. I want to thank the master of the Keyes report, the member for Hamilton West, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, for working with us on this very important instrument of economic renewal for the greater Toronto area. It is very important.
I wish I had more time to go into the various impacts this will have. It will allow the Government of Canada to once again become a full partner with the city of Toronto and with the province of Ontario. Together the three levels of government, including metro, will make sure that we do our part not only for the city of Toronto and the province of Ontario but all other regions of Canada. When we have a healthy, vibrant reinvigorated Toronto, it has a ripple effect throughout the whole country.