Fisheries committee  Thank you very much for the invitation.

Fisheries committee  I'm not sure it's up to me to comment on how the terms of reference were established, Mr. Weston. We work with the tools we have, and that's one of them.

Fisheries committee  The commissioner only gets to make recommendations. At the end of the day, the result will be whether or not anything happens with those recommendations.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Allen, I don't think I can comment on how others might perceive those two things going on at the same time. In terms of use of evidence, there may be some restrictions on our ability to use evidence given before a parliamentary committee. I haven't looked into that. As a pr

Fisheries committee  I don't think that was a question.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Donnelly. The answer to the first part of the question is that it's specifically part of the terms of reference of this commission to look at the recommendations and the responses from DFO from all of these previous reports. I see that not just being whether or no

Fisheries committee  I can't anticipate, obviously, what recommendations will be made. But you suggest some that might be possible if it's simply an area in which there isn't enough information, perhaps.

Fisheries committee  Again--

Fisheries committee  If it's relevant to Fraser River sockeye and perhaps it may be in terms of comparison, why did something happen there and not here, I could see it, but I haven't heard that suggested yet. There are other sockeye runs on other rivers, for example, that have had different results.

Fisheries committee  If I understand you, Monsieur Blais, your question is why are lawyers looking at scientific questions. The commission is very sensitive to the fact that there is a significant scientific component to this. We went to a great deal of trouble to find a well-regarded fisheries rese

Fisheries committee  As I mentioned before, we're not going to engage in primary scientific research but have our experts look at what has been done from every possible corner they can find. We are under way now in getting this process going. So we're very sensitive to the time limits we're dealing w

Fisheries committee  No, I don't look at it as being competitive. The commission is going to gather the information it can to deal with its mandate. If others are investigating the same issues from other perspectives, there could be a synergy that would be helpful. I don't see it as being inconsisten

Fisheries committee  They have done that. Their focus is a little different, but they attract very good people. We will be there and will learn what we can from that event. It may be part of the final result here.

Fisheries committee  Certainly the issue of aquaculture is something this commission will look at with all of its resources.

Fisheries committee  It's an issue that's been raised, but at this stage I can't anticipate how it will factor into the commission's work.