Mr. Speaker, I am rising today to present a petition on behalf of residents in my riding of York—Durham, particularly those from the town of Georgina and the community of Keswick on the south shore of Lake Simcoe, with respect to a new invasive species called water soldier. It was discovered in Lake Simcoe only a short time ago and has been spreading across the lake. It is a physical threat to our enjoyment of the lake. It is a threat to the aquatic species in the lake, and it is potentially a threat to our farming endeavours in the Holland Marsh at the lower end of Lake Simcoe.
Therefore, residents in my riding are calling on the government to list or otherwise identify water soldier as an invasive aquatic plant under relevant federal law; to nominate a single federal department or agency to take responsibility for the federal government's response to water soldier; and then, to allocate sufficient financial and technical support to the Lake Simcoe water soldier working group in the same way that the Government of Ontario has done just recently.