Mr. Speaker, on January 11, the Coast Guard escorted ships on the St. Clair River and the resulting push on the ice destroyed the Bluewater Ferry border crossing between Sombra, Ontario, and Marine City, Michigan. I immediately raised this urgent issue to the Minister of Transport, Minister of Infrastructure, Minister of Public Safety, and the Minister of Fisheries, and when they could not find funding I escalated it to the Prime Minister's Office. Despite having a ministers' retreat in London only days before and claiming to serve southwestern Ontario, they have yet to bring aid to reopen this vital border crossing.
The Liberals found two and a half million dollars to keep the ice rink on Parliament Hill open another month, but they could not find that same amount for this emergency. Liberal inaction means that the border will now be closed for eight months, or permanently, killing businesses on both sides of the border.
Today I call upon the Prime Minister to do the right thing and to restore the ferry border crossing at Sombra.