Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for appearing before the committee, Mr. Kerr.
I gave a speech on your bill in the House of Commons, and like Robert said, our party supports this bill, but I also said when I stood up to speak that this bill is a charade to make it appear that the Conservative government is actually doing something about the seal hunt when, in fact, it's not doing much of anything.
The biggest decline in seal in the markets for Canadian seal products in history has happened under this government's watch. We've seen the markets collapse in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Taiwan, the EU. There's an argument back home on the ground in Newfoundland and Labrador that the ban of Canadian seal products could have been made an issue with Canada-EU trade talks. It was not.
On the ground, in Newfoundland, the biggest seal hunt is off the northeast coast on the front, and what people say is that the half mile wasn't enforced. Now you're going to increase it to a full mile. What's the difference? Again, that's where a nuisance bill comes into play.
I will ask you a question as a member of Parliament for Nova Scotia, Mr. Kerr. Do you personally think the government, your administration, should have made this EU seal ban more of an issue in Canada-EU trade talks?