Mr. Speaker, I will be brief. I wish to indicate that we will vote against this bill because it encroaches on provincial jurisdictions since it would require that provinces transfer their submerged lands to the federal government for the establishment of marine conservation areas.
It is one of the main irritants, and the Bloc Quebecois had proposed an amendment to correct it. Quebec already has legislation establishing a marine conservation area, the Saguenay—St. Lawrence marine park. Everything was in place for the establishment of marine conservation areas in Quebec, with legislation that did not require the transfer of provincial submerged lands, but rather called for a true partnership with Canada.
Under the Constitution, submerged lands belong to the provinces. The government was perfectly aware that this was a major irritant for the Bloc Quebecois.
We are here to defend Quebec's interests. Why should Quebec transfer its submerged lands to the federal government for the establishment of marine conservation areas? The Government of Quebec passed legislation on this, in co-operation with the federal government. We do not see why Quebec should transfer its submerged lands.
I still wanted to make it clear that the Bloc Quebecois is very sensitive to environmental issues. The environment is a shared jurisdiction with the federal government. We are against this bill not because we are not in favour of protecting our ecosystems and our environment, but because we have a way of doing things in Quebec and the federal government could simply have said “Okay, Quebec already has legislation, we respect that; you will not have to comply with the legislation currently before Parliament”.