Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table what I hope is my final petition calling for a national aerial firefighting task force, which was included in the budget.
The petitioners call on the government to work in partnership with the private sector to retrofit a portion of Canada's retired Lockheed CC-130 Hercules fleet; turn them into large air tankers for use in wildfire suppression across Canada; deploy these aircraft as part of a strengthened national wildfire response capacity to be shared with provinces and territories and, where appropriate, available for international humanitarian and emergency response missions; and prioritize this made-in-Canada solution, which leverages Canadian engineering and global expertise and delivers clear benefits for the public in protecting lives, communities and the environment.
This is from petitioners from Port Alberni in British Columbia.