Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all, let me thank Mr. Stoffer for his comments about the coast guard. It's certainly well deserved. These people went through a hard time. But I guess they look at it as being not as hard as the fellow sitting by the side of his boat on an ice pan wondering if it'll break off. It's been a rough ride for everybody, but thank God no lives were lost. It looks as if the ice is loosening up a bit and we can get everybody safely back to port.
I don't argue with the member's perception of the coast guard and how it looks. But if I'm powerful enough or Mr. Manning is powerful enough in a ten-day period following the latest blow-up in Newfoundland to be able to take two icebreakers, do some analysis, and move them to the province, then we're pretty powerful. I can truthfully say, Mr. Chair, of course, we have people who think it's a very good idea to move them there, but I had absolutely no hand in this decision until it came to me. You can actually put anybody around this table under oath and ask them that question. We had a lot of other things to do when the idea came up and the paper was presented as part of a reorganization in relation to the new boats that are being built and moved around. There will be more boats going to the Maritimes than before, and they will be very well off. We're putting a lot of money into the Bedford Institute, and there will be a major consolidation around that area. That area is going to do very well.
In relation to the other two questions, I met with the Freshwater Fish Marketing board a few months ago. It was a very good meeting. We've appointed a new chair and a number of new people since I've been there. They weren't appointed politically, but verified searches were done and approved. There are some very good people involved.
We're not interfering whatsoever. I can have somebody elaborate on this a little more, but the Treasury Board initiated the study to see if there were other options they might want to pursue. It's in their hands. We're not interfering in it at all, nor are we going to go in there and tell them they have to do this, that, or the other thing. We can help them to lay out a couple of options they might want to look at in relation to certain species where it might be to their advantage, but we are not interfering with the Freshwater Fish Marketing board or how that relates whatsoever.
In relation to Mr. Duncan, Mr. Duncan does not work with me at all now. Mr. Duncan resigned from the department quite some time ago, when he decided to seek the nomination. It was actually before he even announced he would do that. He was around when we were working on the act, but I'm not sure if he was still with us when we tabled it. I really don't know. He was there when we were doing the preparatory work, and he certainly had some input into it.
We had a lot of people and some people with political knowledge to try to make sure the act contained the issues that it should, and we dealt with the issues we should deal with. I think we did so. There are some interpretations that need to be cleared up and some changes may have to be made in certain areas. We have no problem with that.
But we have to get on and do it. If we don't do it, it might be another 137 years before we'll do it again. That's my concern.