Madam Speaker, I congratulate the hon. member for his passionate speech bringing forward the concerns of his region.
Coming from a coastal community on Vancouver Island, I know that families, seniors, and small business people are having a harder and harder time making ends meet. The costs of our ferry system have gone up. The price of getting to mainland North America is out of control. As members can imagine, BC Ferries is our highway system, our link, connecting many Vancouver Islanders to the mainland.
In the election, both the previous government and member of Parliament for my riding said that the building Canada fund would include upgrades for new ferries and infrastructure. Later on the provincial minister for transportation in British Columbia said that we did not qualify for the building Canada fund. We have now found out that ferry infrastructure is not included in the building Canada fund.
Because coastal communities that need improvements in ferry infrastructure are affected all across Canada, from coast to coast to coast, I call on the member from Quebec to join me in calling on the government to serve residents in coastal communities right across this country.