Mr. Speaker, I stand today to present petitions on behalf of constituents who are calling on the Government of Canada to act on Rouge Park. We know that the current Rouge Park is home to endangered Carolinian forest and mixed woodland/plain life zones in Canada, zones with one-third of Canada's endangered species. It is the ancestral home of the Mississauga, Huron-Wendat and Seneca first nations and their sacred burial and village sites.
This is the last chance to create a large national park in southern Ontario, an area with 34% of Canada's population and 77% of its land in agricultural and human settlement use. Only 1/400th of its land is protected in national parks.
The petitioners respectfully urge the Government of Canada to ensure that Rouge national park strengthens and implements the ecological visions, policies and integrity of approved Rouge Park plans, the provincial greenbelt plan, the Rouge natural heritage action plan and the Oak Ridges Moraine conservation plan to ensure that the Rouge national urban park will be the best park. We know, of course, that it will be the largest urban park in North America. To make sure it will be--