Mr. Speaker, I am a strong believer in the precautionary principle. We take action when there is evidence that something may be harmful.
The Liberal Party has consistently promoted policies aimed at protecting Canada's waterways. As I have said repeatedly, we will support this motion.
Environment and industry experts agree that microbeads must be phased out of use. A similar ban in the U.S. received bipartisan support and an Ontario Liberal member of the provincial legislature introduced a bill on March 9 to phase out microbeads. In 2011, the Liberal Party pledged to introduce a Canadian freshwater strategy that would address pollution in the Great Lakes, Lake Winnipeg, the St. Lawrence River and other major bodies of water. In 2012, the party made the creation of a national water policy a priority resolution for our party.