Mr. Donnelly, others have raised that with me. It's an interesting legislative construct. I'm told that some jurisdictions that have it have treated it fairly pro forma. You throw it up on the website once a year, you cut and paste last year's plan, just change the date, and put it out as a rebuilding plan. I think that feeds public cynicism and doesn't help the common objective of better managing our fisheries and aquatic resources. We have internally at the department, as you noted, a number of policy measures, and certain cases, like the Species at Risk Act, and so on, have different provisions. You're correct. You were referring to the Fisheries Act. You're absolutely right.
Again, if this committee feels strongly or has views on how that could be looked at as part of a modern regime.... I'm not sure it touches lost protections around habitat, but it's very much part of the conversation, past failures to either protect habitat or, to use your example, of overfishing. There have been examples for generations on every coast of decisions, made perhaps in good faith, that led to very difficult consequences.
The people who have suffered those consequences, in the case of Newfoundland and Labrador around northern cod, will want to know that their government, and maybe their Parliament, are seized of this issue. If you have suggestions as to how we could do that in a legislative context, I would be open to looking at them. But I certainly share the root of your concern and would want to work with everybody to find the best way to do that.