Mr. Speaker, I see some of my Conservative friends agree with that point, which is a good thing. I hope to see more development, because I understand and I appreciate the value of economics and the benefits to the communities.
Let there be no doubt, the St. Lawrence River was the lifeline for generations. As I have pointed out, my ancestors lived close to the St. Lawrence River. If it was not for the St. Lawrence River, who knows if I would even be here because of the role that it played in the development of the province of Quebec, not to mention all of Canada.
As members of government, we have recognized the harm that is caused, and that is one of the reasons why we have invested financial resources and have taken some budget and legislative actions, as we have in the past, to recognize and take actions where we can. That means also working with other levels of government. One can get a real understanding and appreciation in the change in attitudes from this government compared to Stephen Harper's government.
I suggest to the person who moved the motion to take a look at infrastructure dollars. Contrast the infrastructure dollars spent by this government to previous governments, in particular the Stephen Harper Conservative government. As a government, Liberals have spent more to support Quebec on infrastructure, in all likelihood, than any other government in generations. I would like to think that a good amount of those infrastructure dollars was to support the St. Lawrence River, either directly or indirectly. We are talking a great deal of money. That is why I say there have been budgetary measures, some more direct than others.
That is why I would suggest to my colleagues that this is an interesting report to read through. I was provided with some thoughts to share, and I will try to get into that right away. Before doing so, I would suggest to the members opposite that, in debating the issue, there is no reason why we could not have expanded that discussion in the form of an opposition day motion. With an opposition day motion, we would be able to get members to broaden the debate, to ensure that we are not only talking about the St. Lawrence. Members could represent, either directly or indirectly, aspects that need to be discussed. In my case, it would be a long family history that takes me back to the St. Lawrence that piques my interest in this particular river.
This is not something that is just in the province of Quebec. As I pointed out, it could be in British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick. One can ultimately go to the territories, to Churchill and so forth. All of these have an interest in not only what Ottawa is doing, but also how Ottawa can work with other jurisdictions to be able to make a difference. I would think that would be a more productive debate because, as the member himself has made clear, this is a debate that took place well over a year and a half ago.
There is the report, and there is a lot of material that I was provided with that I have not been able to get to. One of the things I should comment on is the voluntary speed reductions, just to show that I actually did get some information, because I do appreciate what it is that the member is trying to get across. That is why I made reference to the sense of co-operation.
In 1988, there was a joint initiative between the governments of Canada and Quebec, so the two governments, to create the St. Lawrence action plan, which “aims to conserve, restore, protect, and enhance the St. Lawrence ecosystem.” It has all sorts of initiatives. The government's response to the committee report also reads:
However, should the effectiveness of the voluntary measures diminish, there exist legislative powers under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001- namely the Vessel Operation Restriction Regulations and Navigation Safety Regulations, 2020 - which could provide a means of imposing regulatory requirements in areas of the St. Lawrence to address outstanding issues or concerns.
In that joint committee, they took a look at speed reductions. When we take a look at it from a volunteer perspective, it was 90%-plus higher with the people or the commercial vessels that were actually obeying or following that. However, we still have other regulations and laws that are now in place, as recent as 2020, to ensure that, if there are additional things we could do, at least we would be open to it, and we have laws in place and regulations that can be supported.
I think there is all sorts of reasons to be optimistic. The issue is whether we can get the different levels of government to work together so we can ensure the recreational, commercial and residential activities are all being given fair treatment, debate and discussion in the House.