Mr. Speaker, I know the member is very concerned about waterways. The St. Lawrence River is one of those about which he is no doubt concerned.
The ELA did research for fresh water. There was an opportunity to keep it going, but the federal government cut the resources to it. The Experimental Lakes Area and that project for research on fresh water was going to die. The federal government cut the funds. We are not talking about multiple millions of dollars. There was a cost factor to it, but the benefits far outweighed the costs. Premier Kathleen Wynne, of all people, came to the province of Manitoba's rescue by providing the necessary funds to keep the ELA going, and all of Canada will benefit from that.
The Conservative government dropped the ball. It was prepared to write it off. That would have been a tragic mistake had we lost the ELA. As I said, that is where we get the research and science. It is good thing at least one province was prepared to recognize that we could not afford to lose it.