Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to stand to present a petition on behalf of my constituents who are concerned about the closure of Department of National Defence land that has been used for recreational purposes for many years. They understand the safety concerns of this area.
These residents of British Columbia, Canada, call upon the House of Commons to clarify the safe operation of the DND rifle range on this land, establish a schedule for public access to the land in the buffer zone of the range, order a feasibility study to look at relocating the range to a more suitable, less populated area, and engage in a community consultation with recreational users, the Regional District of Nanaimo, the City of Nanaimo and the Snuneymuxw First Nation about the future use of this land.
This DND range was started in 1920 and the city has grown massively. I have another 2,000 petitions in the office of the clerk and I know there are petitions with several thousand signatures waiting for me to pick up in Nanaimo.