Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition from Canadians who are concerned about Antarctica. These citizens live in places as far apart as Mile House, British Columbia and Peterborough, Bailieborough, Campbellford, Norwood, Omemee, Lakefield, Keene, Buckhorn, Grafton and Brighton, Ontario.
The petitioners point out that Antarctica is a pristine, scientifically valuable environment in need of protection and that Canada, despite being a polar nation itself, lags behind many nations as far as environmental initiatives in Antarctica are concerned.
They point out that the environmental protocol to the Antarctic treaty system presents practical guidelines concerning environmental issues in Antarctica. They call upon parliament, representing a signatory country to the environmental protocol, to ratify all protocol guidelines in Canadian law.