Mr. Speaker, it is with both anger and sadness I address this House today.
A study released in Sydney found that the cancer rates there were 16% higher than the national average and that numerous other serious diseases and health problems are alarmingly high. These results, shocking as they are, come as no surprise to the people of my community. We have lived with them for a generation.
The people of Cape Breton mined the coal and made the steel that built the railways that brought this nation together. Steel from Sydney helped Canada and our allies in the second world war and the first world war.
The people of my riding have paid a terrible price for their nation. They have sacrificed both their lives and their health.
In return we are asking that this government take real and immediate action and commit to the funding needed to clean up the Sydney tar ponds before another generation of Cape Bretoners suffers the same fate as the last. I ask this not only as a representative of my people but as a Canadian.