Mr. Speaker, the petitioners draw the attention of the House to the fact that the International Joint Commission, which administers the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, recommended in 1992 that Canada and the United States develop timetables to sunset the use of chlorine in the Great Lakes watershed.
Forcing campgrounds, restaurants, trailer parks and rural churches to chlorinate drinking water will cost thousands of dollars they do not have and it violates the chlorinated substances action plan and the international agreement. Scientific evidence was the basis for chlorinated waste water effluent being added to the list of toxic substances in 1993. Therefore, the petitioners are calling upon Parliament to instruct the federal environment minister to impose a moratorium on the expanded use of chlorination in small rural applications until further study on the alternatives is completed.