Thank you, Mr. Chair.
When DFO officials appeared the other week, the deputy minister admitted the department will not implement recommendation 4, and I'm talking about Cohen, which was to appoint a wild salmon policy associate regional director general. I think this is very disappointing, given that a number of other recommendations rely on this position. I'm hopeful the department is correct in its belief that under its current structure it can still accomplish what's set out in the report.
I'd like to look at some other key recommendations contained in the report, for which DFO has missed deadlines. By my calculations, there are at least 13 missed deadlines to date that Cohen has outlined. This is very concerning and is causing many to believe the government has turned its back on this report and its commitment to protect Fraser River sockeye salmon.
While the government claims it's addressing the report through its day-to-day operations, Cohen's report clearly calls for more significant changes. The status quo is what actually led us to needing the commission in the first place.
Justice Cohen also commented that it was regrettable that changes to the Fisheries Act couldn't wait until the government had the opportunity to consider his report. He also noted concerns over Canada's officially withdrawing from the Kyoto protocol through Bill C-38. He writes, and I quote, “climate change and warming waters present perhaps the most daunting long-term threat to the Fraser River sockeye fishery, and leadership in addressing root causes at the national level is critical". I couldn't agree more with him on that.
Just diving into some of the specific recommendations, looking at recommendation 5, with a deadline of March 31 of this year, I'm wondering if there are some quick responses on these. Will DFO publish a detailed plan for implementation of the wild salmon policy?