Mr. Speaker, I pleased to have the opportunity to speak to this important issue and I thank the member for Kildonan—St. Paul for bringing this matter before the House.
It is an issue that is of great concern to the constituents in my riding of Provencher, which takes up most of southeastern Manitoba, stretching from the American border up to Pine Falls and from the Ontario border to the city of Winnipeg. The Red River flows through my riding, around the city of Winnipeg, back into the Red River north of Winnipeg and ultimately into Lake Winnipeg.
I had an occasion this weekend to spend some time on Lake Winnipeg and on the beautiful Victoria Beach. Many people know the area of Victoria Beach and Grand Beach. The area has some of the most beautiful beaches and recreational areas in the world.
This issue would have an impact on my riding in terms of the quality of water. It would also have an impact on the environment, not only in respect of humans but animal life as well. The threat to the ecosystem is undoubted. Indeed, many have grave concerns about this particular issue.
Manitoba is primarily concerned with not only increasing the flow of water through the Red River and Lake Winnipeg, which will add to the risk of flooding, but it is also concerned about the environmental impact of this particular project.
Over the last number of years my riding has been subjected to a lot of flooding. Some of it has been due to rainfall, as it is this year, but at other times there is a concern that it is water being drained out of the United States.
I want to add for the record that I am sharing my time with the member for Charleswood St. James—Assiniboia.
The problem of water coming from the United States creates tensions with our American neighbours. I know concerns have been expressed about the unilateral action of the Americans on this particular file. I want to stress again the fact that we have good relations with the Americans generally speaking. My own riding depends very heavily on the manufacture of goods that are then sent into the United States. I do not think my riding is unique in that respect but approximately 80% our manufactured goods would cross the line into the United States.
From time to time we have concerns with our American neighbours, not only on water quality but on issues like softwood lumber in the northern part of my riding. We have, of course, the BSE issue and things like tariffs on pork. Farmers in my riding are heavily involved in agriculture and the raising of hogs and the transporting of pork across the line is a very important mainstay of my agricultural community.
All of these issues raise disputes from time to time. The point is, though, that as good neighbours we need to always be respectful. That is part of the problem now. We have come to this situation where, unfortunately, our relationships with our American neighbours have not always been what they should be. Rather than adopting a respectful tone with our neighbours, we have been sometimes critical. I think many of our constituents have been angry at the Americans but it is incumbent upon the people in this House to rise beyond that anger.
I had grave concern when I heard the member for Winnipeg Centre talk about using trade sanctions against the Americans as a reaction. As a knee-jerk reaction that may sound wonderful to some individuals until they realize how much of our goods would be affected by that kind of trade sanction. Making those kinds of threats and comparing North Dakota with North Korea is not helpful. I hope the member has made it clear to the Americans that he spoke in anger and in haste but that he was simply trying to reflect the very real concerns of our constituents.
The lessons to be learned here are that we should minimize our confrontations with our American neighbours and that we should seek legal alternatives.
The member for Elmwood--Transcona indicated that I did not think the issue was a moral issue. Of course it is. What I suggest is that instead of comparing our morality, because we all have different codes of morality that we abide by, that we focus on the rule of law, and in this particular case, the treaty in question. I suggested that we try to resolve our disputes through that particular treaty because it does encompass a certain morality. It is the morality of good neighbours working disputes out together.
I did not think it was particularly helpful that we thought that somehow Mr. Bush had a morality that was somehow less than that of Canadians. We have a mechanism to resolve these disputes without making these kinds of inferences. We need to move along.
I found it very curious to hear the President of the Treasury Board express his concern about what may be damaging to our environment, and I think there is a real possibility that there will be damage to our environment, and that this artificial influx of water is not in the best interests of Canadians. I believe that as well.
At the same time, we have been criticizing the Americans and the President of the Treasury Board has been critical of the Americans in terms of not coming to the table and talking.
The truth is that in my own riding of Provencher right here in Canada, where that same water is flowing along the Red River and sometimes causes serious flooding, as it did in 1997, the President of the Treasury Board is unwilling to speak to some of the mayors of the municipalities that are being affected by the expansion of the Winnipeg floodway. These mayors are saying specifically that with the operation of the floodway there will be artificial movement of water that will artificially create flooding that will cause damage.
I recently read a letter from the mayor of Ritchot, a municipality just south of the city of Winnipeg that was severely impacted by the 1997 flood and in other years when the floodway was used. The mayor of Ritchot has been asking the President of the Treasury Board to sit down and talk with him. However, for one reason or another, the same standard that the President of the Treasury Board expects of the Americans he is not willing to do for Canadians in his own home province.
I am very disappointed and I think the President of the Treasury Board should attend to that matter immediately and sit down with the people in Manitoba and talk about these issues.
These matters begin by practising those principles at home. I look forward to working together with all members in the House to resolve this difficult issue.