Merci.
Mr. Cloutier, you asked a question earlier and Mr. Donnelly asked that I respond to it. It was in the middle of a questioning period.
The Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans is comprised of members of all parties and members from all across this country of ours. They come from various walks of life and they come here with the intent to provide advice to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
There is an issue that has been raised within our standing committee by various members, and it was agreed upon by the standing committee to study the snow crab industry in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. The reason the committee is doing that is because of concerns that were raised by the sector. Whether it be from the plant workers, the industry itself, the deckhands, the associations, there have been concerns raised about the situation that the industry, the sector, finds itself in this year.
This committee takes its responsibility very seriously so we certainly took it upon ourselves to venture out into the communities to hear first-hand from members of the communities their advice and their thoughts on the sector and how to ensure its sustainability. The committee and politicians in general are often criticized for staying in Ottawa and remaining in a bubble, if you wish. The committee found that in its decision to come to your community, to come to this community, where we can feel first-hand the impact of the decisions that governments take. That's why we're here today.
We're here today to hear from you, to look you square in the eye and hear what concerns you have about the decisions that government has taken, so that we are able to go back and provide advice to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and provide recommendations to her, so this situation doesn't repeat itself and the concerns this community and other communities like this have aren't repeated.
Once again, on behalf of the committee, I want to say thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedules today to provide us with that advice so that we may be able to provide that advice and those recommendations back to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
Thank you once again, ladies and gentlemen.
The meeting is done, Mr. Cloutier.