Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition on a chronic problem within Saanich—Gulf Islands. Many of the petitioners reside within Nanaimo—Ladysmith. The problem to which I refer is the use of the waters of the Salish Sea as a free parking lot for freighters that back up container ships that back up from the Port of Vancouver.
The petitioners call on the government to suspend the use of these outside-of-port anchorages in the area targeted by an interim protocol put in place by the Minister of Transport until it has come to a final conclusion and that the government require the development of a comprehensive plan to deal with the congestion at the Port of Vancouver and the subsequent backup that is quite destructive to the floor of our ocean and to the quality of life for residents of our areas.