Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Doubleday, this is with regard to my remarks about Mr. Featherstone's comment.
If you go through the concerns here, Mr. Featherstone said he was told that if they didn't come up with $200,000, there were going to be concerns. Ron MacDonald was told by DFO that if they didn't find a way to fund the science, there'd be an assessment done every three years that would lead to a much-reduced TAC. Other people, such as Geoff Gould, said they were told in a letter from the regional director general in B.C. regarding funding of their charters—which do assessments of the soft-shells—that DFO did not have enough funds but was interested in working with them in a joint agreement. They asked what that meant, and the matter died right there. The other lady who came before us talked about the dogfish.
Every single one of these people told us that they were told by people on the west coast that if they didn't come up with money for science, either their TAC was going to be reduced or they were not going to be able to fish. Either they're telling us the truth or they've been misleading this committee.
You don't necessarily have to answer it now, because Mr. Murray indicated he would respond to that later. But I would sure love to have a clear, direct answer to what they're saying, because it sounds as if.... Mr. MacDonald said it himself, that he didn't know what the determination of blackmail was, but he thought this was rather close to it. That's what he said to us in the committee.
So these are pretty serious allegations, and we'll only take them as allegations right now, until you get an opportunity to respond. But my question for you, sir, is about your comment that fishers who benefit from access to public resources should contribute to the costs of managing them. Now, I thought that's what you paid a licence for, and that this money was used to do that.
As you're aware, the B.C. terms of union state very clearly that the federal government would assume or defray all costs to protect and encourage the fishery. That's when B.C. joined in 1871. This one says that fishermen should contribute to the costs, whereas the terms of union for B.C. said it should be a federal responsibility.
I'm wondering if you could somehow square that circle for me.