Thank you, Mr. Chair. It certainly is a pleasure to be in your riding. You speak very passionately about the folks you represent, and it's good to see some of them here today.
I certainly welcome our guests who have come to the committee. It's an honour for me, as an Albertan, to be out here and to hear some of the trials and tribulations folks are going through on each of the coasts and throughout our country when it comes to fisheries issues.
Listening to some of your testimony today, I get the feeling that some of the problems we have today are because twenty years ago, when we made those decisions, we didn't know where we were going to be. And if we make decisions today based on our needs today, we're going to have the same problem twenty years from now. At least that's my way of thinking.
From my perspective, it would make sense.... I'd just like to get your feedback on whether or not, given the context of the current vision statement for the small craft harbours program.... Where do you see harbours needing to go? Does it make sense that we have almost a one-to-one ratio of harbour authorities looking after their own harbours? Should there be regional harbour authorities making decisions based more on economic development for a region rather than for one or two communities in a small harbour? Where is the usage coming from?
Traditionally, the harbours have been there for the fishermen. I'm hearing from folks that's there's more and more demand from recreational boaters. Some friends I met here a few years back are casting off and sailing around the world. That seems to be one of these new recreational opportunities that people are doing, whether they're sailing north from the United States, coming over from Europe, or whatever the case may be.
What do you see a small craft harbours program should look like twenty years from now, given the fact that the fishery is changing and the demands are changing as far as the clients coming into the harbours are concerned? Where do you think we need to go insofar as managing these harbour authorities?