Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses.
In Newfoundland and Labrador this trade deal is generally seen as a good trade deal. I know when I was a young journalist covering the fisheries for years that shrimp tariffs, for example, into the EU were incredibly detrimental to our seafood industry. We have the association representing seafood processors, we have the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union representing fishermen, plant workers, and trawlermen, we also have the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Kathy Dunderdale administration all behind this trade deal.
On the one hand, we've been asked to give up minimum processing requirements for a whole host of species. We have provincial legislation, as you know, that basically outlines minimum processing for various species which had to be adhered to. Those minimum processing requirements will be lifted, which some critics have a problem with, but most people generally, across the board, are in favour of that. At the same time we're getting reports out of the European Union that this deal is being billed as good for European processors because they will get access to Canadian fish, to Newfoundland and Labrador fish, which makes some people in my province of Newfoundland and Labrador wary.
A compensation package has been announced to the tune of $400 million: $120 million from the province and $280 million from the Government of Canada. It's been described as a compensation package. I've also heard it described as a way for the province, the industry, to prepare for access into the EU market. Would you describe the $280 million as a compensation package or as a package to prepare for access into the EU? The second part to this question is, do you have a breakdown on what the $280 million will be spent on specifically?