Thank you, Mr. Douglas.
Thank you, Monsieur Blais.
I apologize to Chief Douglas and our committee members. Unfortunately, I have to leave early to go back to Nova Scotia. Our vice-chair, Mr. Matthews, will take over the committee. Before I leave, I just have a couple of quick questions that I would like to ask if I have time and the committee is in agreement with that.
Thank you.
We will then go on to our next questioner, which will be Mr. Stoffer.
First of all, for the record, I would like to make it clear that the whole salmon fishery on the Fraser River, the greater British Columbia area, the aboriginal fishery, the commercial fishery, and the recreational fishery have been studied and discussed at this committee for some time. I will therefore speak on behalf of this committee and other committees. I think we've tried to be fair and non-discriminatory in our deliberations, and we've tried to come down on the side of the resource.
As someone who has been on the river and understands the river and the resource, you can appreciate the fact that with all the individuals, all the first nations, all the commercial fisheries, all the recreational fisheries, and all the users of the salmon on the Fraser River, we find ourselves constantly challenged to try to make recommendations to government on the resource and how it should be divided up. But I don't think the committee has ever been challenged on the issue that all the stakeholders deserve a fair portion of the resource, and certainly you have a strong traditional claim.
After that prelude, I really want to ask if any members of the Cheam Band or other bands of the Stó:lõ people—and the Cheam are part of the Stó:lõ people, as I understand it—participate in the commercial fishery or in the recreational fishery.