Mr. Speaker, I wish to extend my thanks to the member for Scarborough—Rouge Park, other greater Toronto area colleagues, and the many Canadian stakeholders and citizens for their advocacy and hard work on Rouge National Urban Park, Canada's first national urban park within one hour of seven million Canadians.
Today I am thrilled that we are taking the legislative steps required to strengthen ecological protection of the Rouge while respecting and promoting a vibrant farming community within the park.
In close collaboration with the Government of Ontario, we are confident that this will lead to the expansion of the Rouge National Urban Park to close to 80 square kilometres. What a great present to Canada for our 150th birthday.