The fishers I represent own boats a bit larger than those of the fishers represented by my colleague, Mario, but these are boats which, for the most part, were built 10 or so years ago and have shown their worth. In the Magdalen Islands, you can count on one hand the number of boats that have capsized. Consequently, I do not think it is necessary to do stability testing on these boats after 10 years. They have already proven themselves. A lot of water has run under the bridge in 10 years.
We completely disagree with the testing of our boats. For a new boat that carry a great deal of weight on the superstructure, we do not totally disagree with stability testing. Boats do, after all, have to be safe.
In the Magdalen Islands, all the boats have a low gravity point. There are, therefore, no problems; this has been demonstrated. I myself own a 55 foot-boat which had weight added to it, in the bottom, to make it more safe. It even passed a stability test when it was built.
Today, we are told that we have to spend an additional $5,000 or $6,000, I don't know, in addition to what Mario mentioned. That's the truth: we cannot pay any more. If the government wants to pay, go ahead with the stability test, but we are not paying any more.
Thank you.