If every province does its own thing, that is fine, because this is not an area of federal jurisdiction; however, at the federal level, there are certain prerequisites. First of all, the departments concerned must be merged—in other words, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Otherwise, we will continue to be part of a department where there is an organized lobby. Fishers do not stand a chance against the Fisheries Council on Fisheries. A simple structure, like the Fisheries Roundtable that I referred to earlier, is controlled solely by that council, and fishers are not welcome there. At the very least, these organizations need to be strengthened. Otherwise, at the pan-Canadian level, I see no point in having them.
There are two aspects to this: supply management—such as in the dairy industry—and price negotiation. We do not have to opt for supply management, which would be increasingly challenged. When you introduce supply management, you have to know the volumes that are involved, and so forth. Fishers could follow Quebec's lead: set up a marketing board and do nothing more—and this is already quite a lot—than negotiate prices, to ensure that prices are adequate. That does not mean a price that jeopardizes the enterprises; it means an adequate price.
With the Union des producteurs agricoles, the agricultural industry is very well organized in Quebec. Our fishers' association cannot even afford to pay for one permanent employee. There is simply no comparison to the Fisheries Council of Canada lobby. We cannot even make representations in Ottawa on behalf of the fishing industry. We were offered money for staff, but we do not have the right to make representations on behalf of the fishers. We can only provide training to them.
So, where is the fishers' lobby to counter these other lobbyists?