Mr. Speaker, I am presenting another petition about Lake Champlain signed by people in my riding, from the Saint-Armand and Bedford regions. Cyanobacteria tend to proliferate in hot summer weather.
The International Joint Commission, which is the result of a Canada-U.S. agreement and dates back to 1909, provides for co-operation between Canada and the United States. In the 2016 budget, the government allocated $7.5 million to the commission, but the mandate letter indicates that this money is to be used for flood relief.
The petitioners are calling on the government to allow the $7.5 million that was allocated for flood relief to also be used to study Lake Champlain's water quality. We think that the mandate letter should be revised to make water quality part of the International Joint Commission's mandate. I also want to thank the member for Saint-Jean for his support.