Mr. Speaker, my question today is a follow up to my question in the House of Commons on October 5, 2006 when I had the opportunity to ask the government when it would fulfill its commitment to fund the Saint John Harbour cleanup.
Each and every day in Saint John, 16 million litres of raw sewage is pumped into our harbour, raw sewage that flows through open creeks and travels through school properties. It even includes waste from the Saint John Regional Hospital.
In this day and age, anywhere in Canada, or in the world for that matter, it is unacceptable. This is a public health issue, an environmental issue, a quality of life issue, a tourism issue and an economic development issue. We cannot continue to dump our untreated waste into the harbour.
As the official opposition critic for cities and communities, clean water and waste water treatment are some of the major concerns that we will continue to pursue.
We have been working as part of a team in Saint John to get Saint John Harbour cleaned up and funded. We have made some progress. Our approach began in 2004 as a direct request from the City of Saint John Council which undertook a waste water study and put it forward with the waste water treatment plan.
On March 27, a trilateral agreement for $8.5 million was announced by the City of Saint John, the provincial government and the federal government through the municipal rural infrastructure fund. I do not believe this is the appropriate program to fund this project due to its large dollar size.
More recently, this past fall, within 24 hours of being sworn in as New Brunswick's premier, Shawn Graham delivered a signed memorandum of understanding on harbour cleanup to the City of Saint John outlining the Province of New Brunswick's commitment to one-third of the cost of harbour cleanup.
The memorandum of understanding represents a commitment from the provincial government of $26.6 million. It is my understanding that the funding for this project will come through the Canada strategic infrastructure fund.
Budget 2006 renewed this program. I have met with the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and he has assured me that the federal government will live up to its commitment of funds for the Saint John Harbour cleanup. I take the minister at his word.
If the money for this project is coming from the Canada strategic infrastructure fund, could the minister tell us when we can expect the money to start to flow to our city? If the money is not coming from this program, I would like to know from where it will come and when the citizens of Saint John, New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada can expect the money to be reinvested in this critical piece of community infrastructure for Atlantic Canada. We simply cannot afford any further delay.