Mr. Speaker, ports and harbours across Canada are in desperate need of a cleanup. In my own city of Halifax untreated sewage has been dumped directly into the harbour for over 250 years.
As the major centres of commerce, transportation, tourism and recreation, harbours are the lifeblood of their cities. Years of neglect and inaction have taken a substantial toll on our harbours, but it is not too late.
We need the Government of Canada to take a leadership role in harbour cleanup. Halifax Harbour would make a perfect test case for other remediation projects in cities like Saint John, Toronto, St. John's and Sydney, to name a few.
I call on the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Industry to work together to bring forward a national harbour cleanup initiative starting with Halifax to ensure that Canadians now and in the future have safe and clean harbours.