If we hear criticism of certain specifics, whether it's flooding a field or draining a field or somebody wanting to put a wharf up, that's a matter of how the minister runs his department. But the minister still has a constitutional duty to stand up and be counted, and he ought to be very much in this process. I guess I'm sounding repetitive, but I think the dilution and diminution of the minister's....
I'd be happy to hear Mr. Ashfield stand up, as all former ministers of fisheries whom I recall have done, and say, “I understand what my job entails: I am there to look after the fish”—full stop—“That's what I am appointed by the Prime Minister to do”, period.