Mr. Speaker, I want to get on the record the bizarre actions related to the north in the throne speech, which primarily ignored the north.
There was a lot of bluster in previous speeches about northern sovereignty and a lot of those promises were never kept, but in this throne speech all that was missing. There were two minor references. I think the government figured that out after the throne speech. Now the PMO has written sections of members' speeches with a bunch of old items that they had promised to do.
Even the Prime Minister mentioned two items. He talked about pollution, but he never rescinded the suggestion that the Conservatives made over a year ago to allow dumping in the Arctic. I have a private member's bill against that. He also talked about icebreakers, of all the nerve, because that was a promise he made to northerners to get elected, that there be three icebreakers, and now it is down to only one icebreaker.
Would the member support us in our efforts for the north, that the promises should be kept? Not only are two of the icebreakers gone, but the planes promised for Yellowknife are gone. The ice-strengthened supply ships have all been cancelled. It is great to make promises but if they do not follow through, it does not really help northerners.