Madam Speaker, it is a great honour to rise in support of the motion put forward by my colleague from York North. We celebrate B.C. Rivers Day annually in British Columbia.
I recognize and appreciate the comments of members opposite, particularly my colleague from British Columbia, the member for Dewdney--Alouette. His constituency shares the border of the mighty Fraser River that runs through both our constituencies. As it passes my constituency of Vancouver Quadra it also passes West Point Gray and then flows into the Pacific Ocean.
The Fraser River is of particular importance to us as we consider the importance of having a national rivers day. It exemplifies more than any other river in the country the wonderful words from the poem of T. S. Eliot as quoted by my colleague.
We have a T. S. Eliot of sorts in British Columbia. His name is Mark Angelo. Mr. Angelo was the originator and energizer of the concept of B.C. Rivers Day. He was the long time member and leader of the outdoor recreation council of British Columbia. The council brings together dozens of different outdoor recreational environmental groups and tens of thousands of British Columbians who enjoy themselves throughout the year by teaching and instructing us. It helps to protect the outstanding recreational environmental values of British Columbia and has been the leader and energizer of the very successful B.C. Rivers Day.
Indeed the Fraser River has stimulated one of the most interesting governance institutions in our country, the Fraser Basin Council. The Fraser basin and all the tributaries that run into the Fraser River take up approximately 60% of the land base of British Columbia. This makes it a tremendous catchment area. It covers first nations traditional territories and dozens of municipalities. It attracts the important attention of all levels of government, whether municipal, provincial, federal or first nations.
Until very recently the president of the Fraser Council was Iona Campagnolo, a former member of the House. She was later sworn in as lieutenant-governor of British Columbia. She led the Fraser Council as a new form of governance which combined the mandates, the energies and in many ways the resources of all levels of government, whether federal, provincial, municipal or first nations, that are within the catchment area, the watershed of the Fraser River. Those are some of the important issues in British Columbia to focus upon in terms of the wealth of our rivers.
As Canadians we know how lucky we are to live in one of the world's most beautiful countries. How well do we know what makes our country such a unique place? How many of us know that Canada has the world's longest coastline but, more important, holds the globe's greatest reservoir of freshwater? Our hydrographic wealth is such that it is perhaps impossible to determine exactly how many rivers flow in Canada and how many flow into the Fraser River.
I had the opportunity to take part in a ceremony which recognized the restoration and regeneration of spawning in a river through the beautiful Pacific Spirit Regional Park which is in the constituency of Vancouver Quadra. It is part of the traditional lands of the Musqueam Band that worked thousands of hours of volunteer time with the Suzuki Foundation of British Columbia to restore that spawning stream which had lost its vital potential.
The true importance of our rivers cannot be measured in their number or in their kilometres of length, width or cubic metres of flow. Rivers are part of Canada. They have opened up the country to the successive generations of people who lived here for thousands of years. They have helped us become one of the great success stories of the 20th century.
Whether our ancestors explored this land in birchbark canoes or came here in French caravels or British square-riggers or whether we first saw the splendour of our natural heritage from the airplane that brought us or our forefathers to Canada, we know that rivers are part of the history of Canada and will continue to shape the future of its citizens.
My hon. colleague opposite informed us in a very interesting way of the number of national days that we celebrate in Canada. I am not sure if it was his underlying intent but it certainly had the impact on me of demonstrating what a gap we have in not having a national rivers day in Canada. I thank him for pointing out that oversight and for his support of the motion to make sure we plug that gap.
Perhaps no other country in the world owes so much to its rivers. Perhaps nobody more than this generation of Canadians should want to repay that debt. Our rivers need us today as much as we needed them in times gone by.
That takes us to the most important part of something like a national rivers day. We have celebrated B.C. Rivers Day for over 20 years now. My colleague from Dewdney--Alouette and I have had the great pleasure of taking part in B.C. Rivers Days events. It brings together thousands of people and helps us to become educated, energized and determined to ensure that what has been damaged is restored and what is still healthy remains so for the wealth and health of Canadians.
Our government is very proud of what has been accomplished in favour of our national parks, national historic sites, heritage rivers and marine conservation areas over the past few years. Let me mention a few of the accomplishments.
They are: the appointment of the expert panel on the ecological integrity of Canada's national parks, followed by plans to implement most of the 127 recommendations of the panel; the creation of 7 new national parks, including 3 extraordinary parks in the remote reaches of our Arctic; the approval of 14 new designated Canadian heritage rivers and the nomination of 4 candidate Canadian heritage rivers; the setting aside of pristine spaces in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, an essential part of Canada's Pacific marine heritage legacy; the inclusion of Middle Island in Point Pelee National Park; and the creation of the new National Parks Act with ecological integrity as the paramount priority.
Other accomplishments are: the introduction of the new national marine conservation areas legislation; the first marine park in the Saguenay-St. Lawrence region; permanent caps on commercial development in national parks and fixed boundaries for all park communities; 90% of Canada's Rocky Mountains parks designated as wilderness areas; legislation creating the Parks Canada agency; the first national historic sites system plan; the honouring of historic achievements of aboriginal peoples, Canadian women and ethnocultural communities; the commemoration of over 150 national historic sites across Canada; the creation of urban discovery centres to connect Canada's students to their natural heritage; the involvement of thousands of students in British Columbia on B.C. Rivers Day, which presents the promise of education, energy, awareness and support from our youth across the country for a national rivers day; and the commitment in red book three to expend $130 million on new national parks and ecological integrity over the next four years.
These many accomplishments of the last few years have been led by the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
The sponsor of the motion has rightly singled out among the many initiatives taken by Parks Canada those that aim specifically to protect and enhance our national rivers system and our marine conservation areas. I believe national rivers day would help immensely to publicize these efforts and build support for them. It would also provide an opportunity to bring Canada's river communities closer together on tangible projects nationally, regionally and locally.
I take great pride and honour in endorsing the motion and I hope all members of the House will give it their full support.