Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to this bill on behalf of our Outdoors Caucus, made up of members of the House from all parties, that has the mission to entrench in law fishing, hunting, trapping and shooting sports as acceptable, traditional, environmentally sustainable outdoor heritage activities with a safety credo and a conservation ethic as our highest priority.
We have 77 members in the caucus, 67 MPs and 10 senators. There are 51 Conservatives, 17 Liberals, 4 NDP members and 5 Bloc members. There are 27 from Ontario, 8 from Quebec, 10 from Alberta, 7 from Saskatchewan, 9 from B.C., 3 from Nova Scotia, 3 from New Brunswick, 5 from Manitoba, 1 from P.E.I., 2 from Newfoundland, 1 from Yukon and 1 from Nunavut.
I want to read an excerpt from a letter to the Outdoors Caucus from Mr. Phil Morlock, chair of the legislative committee of the Canadian Sportfishing Industry Association. He said:
The future health of our industry and related economies is directly tied to the conservation and sustainable wise use of our natural resources, reflecting the fact that the people who fish and hunt donate more volunteer hours and money to the improvement of fish and wildlife habitat than all other groups combined. The very origins of parks, protected areas and natural resource management science can be traced to the efforts of people who came to value wild places through fishing and hunting. These heritage activities are increasingly relevant in today's urban society. People fish and hunt for very profound and personal reasons that reach back across [years and years and years] of human history and continue to bring us together in the outdoors. We come from all ethnic and economic backgrounds, all political views, male and female, young and old. Our outdoor heritage and traditions are not political and should never be politicized.
I encourage all members to ensure that this indeed happens.