Thank you, Ms. Shea.
You didn't have an opportunity to explain in any great detail why custodial management was described in the Conservative Party of Canada's platform of 2008 as being in force. Canada allegedly has custodial management; that's what your government says. Yet now you tell us that we cannot put it into force because it cannot exist. I don't understand why you tell people in Canada we have custodial management of the nose and tail of the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap--and put it in your platform--when it doesn't exist.
You also said that NAFO's great achievement was to ban something that never occurred. There was never any activity in the 11 areas where a prohibition has been placed on bottom trawling to protect coral. You have an opportunity now to use that same legal principle to ban bottom trawling of foreign factory freezer trawlers on the nose and tail, and you're walking away from it. It seems rather strange.
This afternoon I had an opportunity to ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs directly about an amendment or motion that will be put forward to this committee. We were given notice of it today. Government members, joined by the Bloc and the NDP, will consider asking the government to extend the consultation period on the NAFO amendments a further 21 days. The government tabled a very specific policy in 2008 that allowed Parliament 21 sitting days to review international treaties. Conservative members are now saying that policy is not effective, it's broken, it's too short a timeframe, and it needs to be extended by another 21 days. When I asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs if he was prepared to actually sanction amending his policy, he refused to answer me. You answered instead.
Did you speak for the Government of Canada, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs when you told me this afternoon in the House that you were prepared to amend the federal government's policy on the tabling of international treaties in Parliament and change it from 21 sitting days to 42? Is that the position of the Government of Canada and not the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada?