Senator Richards: The island, because of the lack of participation by Canada, is now pretty much up for sale. People are buying up lots and oceanfront. I do imagine most of these people, or a lot of them anyway, would be Americans. I feel this area of the country, simply by neglect, is being betrayed, sir, and I have to bring it to the attention of the Senate.

Hon. David Richards: Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold. This is the fourth time over the last couple of years that I have asked this particular question. It being Tourism Week or close to it, I’m going to speak about Campobello Island for a moment. Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay spoke last August of a government commitment to ferry service in Atlantic Canada. How vitally important it was, he said. However, he didn’t mention Campobello, which has no ferry service three quarters of the year, has no longer a bank and no longer a hospital, and the only link to the mainland is through a foreign country, which causes all kinds of disruptions, especially during the winter.

To travel into Canada, they must go to their closest neighbour. Their closest neighbour is the home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Campobello was a childhood home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt who, unfortunately, got polio at the age of 14 in Campobello. It is a historic island, and it should be protected by the Canadian government.

Would it be completely mystifying to this government if the remaining people on Campobello — and I think they are down by about a third now — were to leave Canada and join that country that they are already joined to?