Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for bringing this committee to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, to hear concerns of the people in Newfoundland and Labrador regarding the upcoming budget.
I'm going to start off with Ms. Glode.
I heard you mention science. Since 2015, there's been a $5-billion increase in the DFO science budget, with approximately 5,000 new personnel. In half of these years, since 2019, we haven't had a trawl survey. I heard you mention the hardship in the fishing industry this year and what people are facing this winter. Had we had these trawl surveys since 2019—four of the last eight years—and given the experience on the ocean this year.... There's an overwhelming amount of codfish, and who knows what other groundfish species have recovered since 2019? It's a long time. Do you think there's any responsibility in the lack of science? Should there be a lack of science, given how much money and personnel have been allocated under this government?
Would we be facing what we're facing this year if we'd had the proof that's ultimately going to come out of this trawl survey for our coastal communities? How much more employment do you think we'd be able to get if you had your 25,000-tonne increase in cod quota, for example?