Mr. Speaker, I have spent most of my life fighting for parks and protected areas and I created quite a few.
I really wanted to vote for the Rouge park. An urban park is a great idea. I was intending to vote for the bill, until I brought amendments to committee that were dismissed out of hand.
Every conservation group—every single one—is now opposed to this bill. This bill would actually weaken the protections that were put in place by the province. It violates the memorandum of understanding with the province. Ontario now opposes this bill.
A few simple amendments could have made the bill better and fixed it, but committee members were busy on their Blackberrys, mindlessly voting against every amendment without even listening to them. The arrogance of the government on this bill is unspeakable.