Mr. Speaker, recently a gathering of progressive leaders met in northwestern British Columbia under a program we launched called Renewal Northwest to talk about a future economy, a greener economy for the people of our region.
First nations leaders, environmental activists, businesses and non-profits got together to create the kind of change that we want to see in the world, a plan for a region that has had a long and proud history of economic development but recently has suffered mightily under the downturn across the world. The list of ideas is long and includes greener transportation, greener mining practices, environmental retrofits for our homes and offices, and much more.
We need the federal and provincial governments as willing partners in the efforts of the northwest. We want others from across the region to get involved online and in other forums. Northwestern British Columbia will recover and rebuild from this. We will do it together.