Mr. Speaker, the member for Churchill is firmly opposed to selling freshwater.
In my riding, there are a number of places that sell water. Obviously, it does not mean redirecting a river or emptying a lake, I agree. It is a natural resource. All the parties are satisfied, including the producer, that is, the owner of the farm where the water is drawn, and the companies that buy this water of exceptional quality. Everyone is happy in this market. And I do not think I am exaggerating.
What if the people of Alberta were asked, for example, to stop selling oil because it is not renewable—there is a limited quantity of oil in the subsoil and once that is used up there is no more—what if someone came up with a similar motion, whereby the sale or extraction of oil would be banned, and the oil would be kept for domestic use? I do not think that would be so intelligent, because we in the east import oil.
Some countries do not have enough water. We, it appears, have over 20% of the world's drinking water and we say “We are going to keep it just for us, regardless of what you might offer us”. I remind you that while there is one extreme, there is another extreme too.
I wonder whether the member for Churchill could tell us how far we could go with her motion.