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May 9, 2008
Devolin
to Co-Chair new Trent Severn Caucus
Many of you know that the panel reviewing the future of the Trent
Severn Waterway (TSW) released their highly-anticipated report in
Peterborough on April 28.
This report, entitled “It’s All About the Water”, lays out a
detailed long-term plan to restore and sustain the TSW for decades
to come.
In a nutshell, the report recommends a fundamental restructuring of
authority over the TSW, and suggests it will take 10 to 15 years to
restore the waterway’s infrastructure.
In a co-operative effort to implement this report, the federal and
provincial members of parliament who represent the people and
communities along the waterway have agreed to form a new Trent
Severn Caucus.
These members are:
*Rick Norlock (MP-Con) and Lou Rinaldi (MPP-Lib) from
Northumberland;
* Dean Del Mastro (MP-Con) and Jeff Leal (MPP-Lib) from
Peterborough;
* Barry Devolin (MP-Con) and Laurie Scott (MPP-PC) from
Haliburton-
Kawartha Lakes-Brock; and
* Bruce Stanton (MP-Con) and Garfield Dunlop (MPP-PC) from Simcoe
North.
The first decision made by Trent Severn (TS) Caucus members was to
select Barry Devolin (MP-Con) and Jeff Leal (MPP –Lib) as
co-chairs to lead this effort.
The second decision was to meet immediately to develop an action
plan. This meeting will take place at Queen’s Park in Toronto on
Tuesday May 13.
For those unfamiliar with parliamentary procedure, ‘caucus’ is
the word used for describe groups of parliamentarians who come
together for a particular reason, or to work on a specific project.
For example, I am part of the Conservative caucus in Ottawa. I also
belong to the Rural Caucus, the Lake Simcoe Caucus and the
Automotive Caucus.
As you might expect, the Trent Severn Caucus will focus on
conditions and issues along the waterway. We also recognize we are
fortunate, compared to many other caucuses, because we have a fresh
and detailed blueprint to focus our efforts.
We’ve all heard tales of government reports gathering dust on
shelves. Let me assure you I will do my best to ensure this does not
happen with “It’s All About the Water”.
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