Madam Speaker, I acknowledged the work of my colleague from Thunder Bay-Nipigon not just in the last four years of government but over the last nine years we have served together in the Parliament of Canada.
He has worked passionately, diligently and carefully. He has listened to everybody who has come to him from coast to coast, from every region of the country. We are on the eve of an election and we never know. The people have to decide whether or not we come back. However I will always look back on the last nine years with my colleague from Thunder Bay-Nipigon as a positive constructive experience.
I want to build on a very important theme the member for Thunder Bay-Nipigon touched upon, the whole notion that the Chamber is about building Canada. It is about building a national infrastructure. It is about building national standards. It is about advantaged regions in the country looking out for disadvantaged regions.
That was what inspired me to work in this community. Some 18 years ago I had the privilege and the pleasure of working on the staff of the Right Hon. Pierre Elliott Trudeau. To this day I admire his vision and his passion for ensuring that we look at Canada from coast to coast. Those regions that have must look out for those that have not. We must ensure that this Chamber never forgets that we are here for that reason. Even though the member represents Thunder Bay-Nipigon and I represent downtown Toronto, we have to care about every part of the country. That is our responsibility in this Chamber.
We are here today to celebrate the commitment of the Government of Canada in ensuring that its presence in the port of Toronto is enshrined.
I want to thank the Minister of Transport and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport for listening to the Toronto caucus and the Toronto community and ensuring that Toronto had a port authority designation.
There is a bit of an emotional tie to this legislation in Toronto because the very first act encapsulating the port of Toronto was signed by Charles Parmalae. Today a press release was issued by the current chairman of the Toronto harbour commissioners: "This legislation reflects the Government of Canada's faith in the future of Toronto's port and Toronto's city centre airport operations as key business infrastructure for economic renewal of the Toronto area".
Charles Parmalae is the great-grandson of the Charles Parmalae who signed the original foundation legislation in the House many years ago. I salute the leadership of Charles Parmalae and his team member from the Toronto board of trade who has done so much over the last few years to ensure that the range of interests was covered. He and others are now saying it is time for us to head into the 21st century with a renewed thrust, with a renewed invigoration.
It is important before we enter this era of renewal, placing special emphasis on job creation, to acknowledge some of the things the Toronto Harbour Commission has done. I would like to mention three specific things which have happened over the last while.
The Toronto Harbour Commission has expanded waterfront lands by more than 2,000 acres by dredging and land reclamation. This includes 644 acres of the eastern port lands, 600 acres of the Toronto islands, nearly 200 acres of western Beaches and other reclaimed land along the shoreline between the Humber River and the foot of Bathurst Street. It includes 150 acres for the metropolitan Toronto and region conservation authority at Ashbridges Bay, Bluffer's Park and elsewhere in the eastern Beaches, and the 430 acres at the Leslie Street spit, the Tommy Thompson Park.
There are close to 15,000 people who live on the Toronto Harbour Commission lands. There is employment on these lands. There are recreational facilities on these lands, and on it goes.
We salute the Toronto Harbour Commission. We hope with this new legislation, which continues to ensure that the city of Toronto has a board member, that the province of Ontario and the users are all present. They are the people who create jobs. This port will be run in a business like manner. This port will be transparent.
A few hours ago in Toronto a certain member of council said: "This is a Government of Canada land grab that is greater than anything in Canadian history. It is bigger than when the white man came from eastern Europe and took over Canada". That statement is false. These lands are Government of Canada lands. It is not selling these lands. It is the Government of Canada presence being reinvigorated in the city of Toronto. It is not the Government of Canada on the eve of an election selling lands, terminals and other things. It is the reverse of that. It is the Government of Canada saying it is there to be a full partner in the economic renewal of the city of Toronto.
There are some people who would ask what capacity does the Toronto port authority have in the area of port responsibility. I think it is very important for people to realize that currently there are four overseas shipping lines calling at the port. The port is also linked to both CN and CP. There are actually many other ports in the marine act which do not have that capacity. The port is directly linked to two major freeways. The port handles bulk, break bulk and project cargo, and the port has the best heavy lift capacity of all the Great Lakes.
We are here today to celebrate a commitment that the government and the Prime Minister made almost four years ago. In his first visit to Toronto after we won the election the Prime Minister
said Toronto will be given support on economic renewal, support and attention the likes of which it has never seen.
Here we are on the eve of an election. We are saying in symbolism, and local employers have said, it is a fabulous thing for economic renewal. Many members beyond the local job creators and people who understand the notion of tourism infrastructure are saying it is great that the Government of Canada has taken an active role in setting up this port in a totally transparent way.
Again I want to say that this was done with the great co-operation of the Toronto Harbour Commission, the officials of the Department of Transport and the parliamentary secretary. As a measure of hope to get that economic engine of Toronto going again at full throttle, we think it is a great step in that direction.