Mr. Speaker, this is the week the UN has declared to be World Maritime Week. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the contribution the seas have made to the development of mankind.
They are a source of inestimable wealth, and, over the centuries, have been indispensable to explorers seeking new vistas and adventures far from home.
Woven into our history and vital to our economic development, the seas remind us daily of our common duty to protect and develop them so that their wealth may continue to contribute to the development of all nations.
This duty is particularly compelling for us whose country they border to the east, the north and the west.