Mr. Speaker, I think it is appalling that the government and the parliamentary secretary are hiding behind the designation of “historic event” instead of “historic site” to justify their refusal to protect this canal.
Regardless of the designation used by the parliamentary secretary, the community and heritage groups consider it a priority to protect the canal. In 2009, the canal made Heritage Canada The National Trust's top 10 endangered places list. I will share a quote from the organization's website:
Without immediate action this historic site will be lost forever.
There is far too much work required to reopen the canal for a municipality like Grenville, which has about 1,600 residents. They cannot take on the cost of this work alone. Although the RCM of Argenteuil has provided assistance for short-term solutions, we could end up completely losing this canal in the long term.
Describing a canal as an “event” as a result of its state does not prevent it from deteriorating even more.
Why do the Conservatives want to let this historic canal deteriorate, when it represents an economic opportunity for my region?