Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank our guests today for taking time, with very little notice, to come and make this presentation.
I want to be clear, however, that while it's extremely important that you be here, and are able to make a public presentation about these changes and the process, this is very much a flawed process in that we're being asked, as a committee, to look at these particular clauses in a very short window of time. We're going to have a handful of hours, in effect, before the finance committee is ultimately going to be dealing with Bill C-45 in its entirety, which is well over 400 pages, to prepare it to refer it back to the House.
We have our authority, in effect, under the committee. The finance committee referred these clauses to us to look at. We have no authority, however, under our Parliament, to make any amendments whatsoever as a committee. Through Parliament and the rules of order, we take our direction from the House. So if the House refers....
We had asked that these provisions get split off and referred to this committee by the House in a separate bill, for example. Then we would be able to hear evidence and make recommendations back to the House on the kind of things that you have suggested with regard to amendments.
Unfortunately, under the process that has been imposed upon us by the government, we're not in that position at all.
I just think it's important that you understand that while I believe, and certainly my colleagues on this side believe, that your presence is extremely important, there are dozens if not hundreds of other groups across the country who are directly involved in the fishery and in protecting fish habitat who would have important things to say about these clauses as well, and they should be here. Your presence is extremely important to us. I want you to understand that where it will go, or where it might go....
It largely is a public process to express your views, and that's probably about the end of it. I just wanted to be clear, and again, I want to thank you very much for agreeing to come to talk about these things.
I'm going to be sharing my time. My colleague is going to direct a couple of specific questions.
Before that, I want to just ask not just Mr. Taylor but all the witnesses about the whole question of the regulations that are right now before DFO to enact the proposed changes in Bill C-38.
Mr. Taylor, you referred specifically to a deadline of January 1, 2013. We've heard likewise that while the minister and government members of this committee made serious commitments that there would be consultation, that there would be extensive consultation before those changes finally went through, before the regulations were changed through order in council, what we've heard is that there haven't been consultations.
Now, I guess if the government is thinking about consultations in terms of what Mr. Sopuck said, that he's consulted with municipalities in his riding, and so that constitutes consultations for these purposes, then maybe the government thinks it has consulted.
I would ask you, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Wuttke, if you have any comments. Just how important is it that in fact consultation does happen before these changes are enacted? How important is it that we insist that the government delay imposing those changes before January 1?