I was saying that the importance of harbours in our area is not only economic, but also has cultural and heritage value. Currently, the underfunding of this program for our region has had significant consequences in all three of these areas. There have been repercussions for our fishing industry. Despite what Fisheries and Oceans says, access to certain wharves is neither adequate nor safe for our fishermen. We had emergency situations last year at the Saint-Georges-de-Malbaie wharf, which is very bad for our industry. Mr. Georges Mamelonet will in fact address that issue later on.
The wharves that have currently fallen into a state of disrepair represent risks for our tourists, who quite rightly want to have access to the sea. They used these wharves in order to see the water. Often, part of the wharf is closed because of a lack of maintenance and the fact that it is not safe. Some wharves are temporarily closed. This creates a particular atmosphere of desolation and does not project a good image of the federal infrastructures in our area, nor of the community that is welcoming these tourists to our region.
The lack of funding for this program also means that some of the fishermen's wharves are not only poorly maintained, but they do not allow for multiple uses. Our region is experiencing significant economic difficulties in relation to the collapse of the fish stocks and the lumber market. We are attempting to diversify our economy through various means. The two themes we have chosen to diversify our economy are tourism and fish farming, or farming products in a marine environment, aquaculture.
In this regard, the wharves are important for the development of this industry. Very often, the lack of maintenance and Fisheries and Oceans Canada's inability to act in these areas deprive us of the possibility of developing this industry. For these reasons, we are in a position to say that currently, the federal government, through Fisheries and Oceans Canada, is not fully playing its role on our territory, which has a negative impact on our entire economy, whether it be tourism or the fishery, fish farming or the development of recreational boating as well. The Gaspé Peninsula and the Magdalen Islands are welcoming more and more recreational boaters who quite rightly come to explore the surrounding waters. Very often, because of the lack of maintenance or the closing of certain sections of a wharf, the boaters find that they have no access to moor their boat.
There are of course marinas that exist in our region, but people do not always plan for enough time, and they are sometimes obliged to berth at a wharf in a different area. I myself had that experience in the Magdalen Islands last year. I was travelling through the Magdalen Islands on a sailboat and we ran into a serious storm. We had to take shelter in a harbour where the infrastructure was inadequate not only to protect our sailboat, but even the fishing boats that were there. We had to protect ourselves as best we could with the buoys that the fishermen lent us. This whole aspect creates an atmosphere of decrepitude of the infrastructure that, in my opinion, projects a very bad image of our region in this regard.
Moreover, I would like to emphasize that our organization works with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in order to try and find solutions for non-core harbours in our area. Core harbours come under the jurisdiction of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. They want to maintain them in light of their responsibility with harbour associations, but others are categorized as non-core harbours, and the divestiture program is not adequate to allow for the renovations of these wharves and for them to be handed over to local authorities. We are working in collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and we want to put forward a regional divestiture program which would involve changes in use in certain cases. We would like to have their support in this effort, but it is extremely difficult to get information. We have great difficulty getting information on costs, on projects that are already implemented, etc. We would appreciate the cooperation of Fisheries and Oceans Canada in this respect.
Olivier Demers, who is with me here today, is my advisor and my associate. He is the professional in this area that I refer to and at times, in fact quite often, he indicates to me how difficult it is to obtain information from Fisheries and Oceans Canada in order to properly document the files that we are working on.
I have given you a brief overview of the situation. I believe that through the question period, we will be in a better position to respond more specifically to the aspects that concern you and that concern us as well. In conclusion, I must say that wharves are critical in the Gaspé area. They are essential to our economy, and also to our culture and heritage. They are a part of our landscape. In that sense, we must give them all the attention that is required, not only so that they will be functional, but also so that they can contribute to the development of our economy overall, not only to the fishery.
I thank you for your attention. Given that I have a few more minutes, some of my colleagues may add a few words if they wish.