Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for appearing before us today.
One of the terms I've heard on both coasts is the term “fish laundering”, meaning you use fish to pay for your activities that have not been authorized by the crown—in this case, the Treasury Board.
Mr. Gould, you haven't had a chance to speak yet, but your industry is very valuable in your community of Prince Rupert—and Mr. Haché could, if possible, discuss on the east coast. Are there any allegations or concerns post-Larocque that DFO has done a nudge, nudge, wink, wink to various groups and associations that if we could do this, we'll help you? We could wait and pause until we get Bill C-45 to do it, but we need some money in order to do this so you can go and fish.
Is there any evidence of that at all, or any kind of documentation that may be available to show that DFO is indeed contravening the Larocque decision?