Mr. Speaker, Environment Canada's funding agreement for the 14 ZIP committees and for Stratégies Saint-Laurent, which are working to protect the St. Lawrence River, expired on March 31, 2008. Since then, projects related to the St. Lawrence River action plan have been approved by Quebec's ministry of sustainable development, environment and parks. However, these projects cannot be launched because of the Conservatives' ideological stubbornness in continuing to underfund these community groups.
Will the Minister of the Environment commit to meeting with the 14 ZIP committees and with Stratégies Saint-Laurent in the next few days, to renegotiate and sign a fair agreement to fund the implementation of the St. Lawrence action plan until 2010?