Mr. Speaker, about a year ago, the Prime Minister was still a candidate, and he came to my community and made promises. British Columbians took him at his word that he would create new environmental assessments and a new relationship with first nations. Yesterday he and his government broke those promises. They broke that trust.
They broke trust with the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, whose territories will now be criss-crossed by seven times as many large oil tankers.
They broke trust with every British Columbian when he promised a world-class spill response. Instead, we now see what a single leaking tug can do to devastate an entire community, and now they would drive a supertanker through the Salish Sea every day, a sevenfold increase in traffic.
My community will not gamble with its coastline and its economy. My community remembers what it was promised by the government. The Prime Minister may have walked away from his commitments, but the people of Victoria will stand together to fight for a clean and sustainable future for us all.