Madam Speaker, this week is National Soil Conservation week, and I would like to highlight Manitoba's Netley Marsh. Netley, located at the mouth of the Red River and Lake Winnipeg, is the largest coastal wetland in Canada and one of the most significant wetlands on our continent. The delta is made of numerous islands. The soil hosts vital vegetation, wildlife, and fish habitat and is a key pollution filter, working like our kidneys. Scientists have suggested that a restored marsh would reduce Lake Winnipeg's pollution level up to 5% more than all the measures already taken.
Prior to 1989, active soil remediation occurred at the marsh, and since it has stopped, the islands' soil has been washed out. The international Red River Basin Commission has been working tirelessly to repair the situation. Healthy soils mean healthy ecosystems, and it is time this riparian ecosystem was repaired.