Mr. Speaker, the member's point of order has made the case for me that, if I had a choice to talk about the games the Conservatives are playing, day in and day out, or the St. Lawrence River, I would rather talk about the St. Lawrence River. However, I will expand upon the topic.
Just like the St. Lawrence River is important to all of Canada, especially the province of Quebec, the issue of water erosion goes far beyond the St. Lawrence River. I would argue that talking about the shores of our oceans, rivers and lakes, as well as the impact of our commercial, residential or recreational activities along them, would be a wonderful debate to have. I would also argue that the St. Lawrence River is a very important part of our lives. If I were in opposition, I would encourage a debate of that nature.
I will give an example. The Red River and the Assiniboine River are two rivers that connect in the city of Winnipeg. To our communities and our cities, our rivers are so very important. Our Red River, our Assiniboine River and our Seine River are some of Winnipeg's greatest assets, but we are, unfortunately, seeing riverbank erosion taking place. There has been a big push, in which I have ultimately argued the opposite of what the member opposite was saying about who has responsibility.
I will give a tangible example. In Winnipeg, my suggestion was to have a water authority deal with all aspects of our waterways, including the Red River, the Assiniboine River and the Seine River, because the city of Winnipeg needs those rivers. In many ways, that would help the development of our city. The same principle could apply to the St. Lawrence River, along with the many other rivers that flow through our communities.
In Winnipeg, to a certain degree, we have a good starting point, which was put in place a number of years ago, with The Forks and its development. Prior to The Forks development, there was virtually no traffic going down to The Forks, where the Red and the Assiniboine rivers meet. As a direct result of the federal government, the provincial government and the municipal government, today, The Forks is Manitoba's number one tourist attraction. I suspect that, if members have been to Winnipeg, chances are they have been to The Forks. That development, including the protection of the shorelines, were investments made by not one level of government, but by all levels of government, as they recognized just how important our rivers are to our communities.
We do not have big ships bringing in all sorts of transport and products or exporting products. It is not the economic hub of the St. Lawrence River, but I can tell the member opposite that our waterways are of great importance to the city of Winnipeg. I suspect that, whether we are talking about cities such as Winnipeg or Edmonton, it is an importance issue, just as it is for the St. Lawrence River, in British Columbia, around Vancouver Island in the ocean, and around Halifax.
These are all important waterways, not only to the immediate communities, but also to all Canadians. Another example is the port of Churchill in Manitoba. It might not be unanimous among all politicians, but I would definitely like to see more activity taking place in the Port of Churchill.