Mr. Speaker, I begin by speaking on Motion No. 3 put forth by my hon. colleague from Rimouski—Mitis. She is a very diligent, hardworking and conscientious member of our committee and I totally respect the motion she has put forth.
All members of the committee were faced with a very difficult situation because we wanted to do what was right. That was the intent and I sensed that from all members of the committee. It was difficult to deal with this and I had to do quite a bit of soul searching and reflection on the representations made to the committee.
An agreement is an agreement. There had been an agreement signed by all six parties involved. The agreement stated that if all six signatories were in agreement the agreement could be renegotiated. Not all six signatories wanted it reopened. What happens if, for example, the federal government comes in as one of the signatories and decides it wants to reopen? Other members of the agreement might not be in favour of that. An agreement is an agreement and unfortunately or fortunately we have to stand by that agreement.
As my hon. colleague mentioned, the group that made representations to have this reopened stated this was done purely for economic reasons so that the people of the Inuvialuit region could derive some financial benefits from that. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. There is 80% to 90% of the anomaly of the potential mineral find that falls outside the boundaries of the park. This in no way will prevent these people from being able to earn income from this mineral find. This is another reason I have trouble in supporting this motion.
There is also the bluenose caribou herd whose main calving ground falls into this area which some people would like to see changed or carved out of the park and I therefore have concerns with this.
If we change the boundaries set forth in this park we are setting a dangerous precedent. There are other parks that fall into this category such as Gros Morne Park as well as other parks and if we change the boundary for this one then we are leaving a lot of other parks open for renegotiation. I think that sets a dangerous precedent.
With all due respect to my colleague for Rimouski—Mitis, on behalf of my party, we cannot support this agreement.