Mr. Speaker, I was hoping to hear that member, when he got on his feet, actually do what my colleague from Essex asked him to do, and that is apologize for what he said about our New Brunswick members. The Green Party talks about how we treat each other, but when it comes to an opportunity to actually make it right, I guess playing politics is more important.
However, I am happy to answer his question factually.
On March 31, 2014, the Government of Canada announced that a new operator for the Experimental Lakes Area had been secured. I am pleased to say that the Government of Canada has finalized agreements with the new operator of the ELA, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, as well as with the Province of Ontario. These agreements mean that the federal government has fulfilled its commitment to ensure that research at the Experimental Lakes Area can continue under a new operator.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada had been leading the negotiations with the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Province of Ontario since the spring of 2013. Parties committed to reaching final agreements by March 31, 2014, and we have met that commitment.
The Government of Canada has signed four agreements in total, and these agreements address a variety of topics.
We have reached two agreements with Ontario. The first agreement establishes that the main research site at the ELA is in a safe and clean condition for return to Ontario. Over the fall, Fisheries and Oceans Canada undertook a variety of remediation activities to ensure that the site was in good condition.
The second agreement with Ontario describes Fisheries and Oceans' plan to remediate the surrounding land and the watersheds. The Government of Canada will undertake remediation activities to clean up remnants of past scientific activity. These cleanup activities will include removing unneeded wooden platforms from lakes and removing boardwalks and docks that are in poor condition and are not required by the new operator. In addition, the agreement with Ontario describes the lake monitoring required to demonstrate that lakes have recovered from past scientific experiments. While the lakes do not require active remediation, the Government of Canada will be responsible for monitoring their continuing recovery.
The Government of Canada's agreement with the International Institute for Sustainable Development includes several elements that ensure that the institute is well positioned to begin operating the research facility and the scientific research program. For example, the agreement includes funding for $1 million over four years for the institute to maintain the long-term environmental data sets.
The agreement also includes the transfer of moveable assets formerly used to operate the ELA research facility and the scientific research program.
The agreement describes the lake recovery monitoring program the institute will conduct on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Finally, all three parties signed a scientific data-sharing agreement. Through this agreement, Fisheries and Oceans Canada will make available all of its ELA scientific data for the new operator. This scientific data set is unparalleled and includes lake ecosystem data collected over the past 45 years.
Our government will also be introducing the ELA research activities regulation very shortly. Once finalized, this regulation will authorize the new operator to continue making deposits, for scientific research purposes, at the Experimental Lakes Area.
Our government has always said that we were committed to finding a new operator for the Experimental Lakes Area. The International Institute for Sustainable Development is well suited to operate the ELA and has the capacity, expertise, and international reputation to take on this important job.
The agreements and regulation I have described will ensure the effective and efficient transition to the new operator. We wish them well in that endeavour.
While the International Institute for Sustainable Development embarks on its new science program at the ELA, Fisheries and Oceans Canada will continue its diverse freshwater research program in other locations across the country.