In my last appearance before this committee, I lamented the fact that over a long period, under two different governments, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans had been starved for resources, and in particular was being starved of resources to properly manage the recreational fishery.
We were asking for a program called the recreational fisheries vision implementation, and we were telling government that we actually had the way to pay for it. We wanted the recreational licence fee increased substantially, and that money would have more than offset what we were asking government to spend. However, because of the cursed User Fees Act, that wasn't possible.
In fact, there is now in the hated omnibus bill something called the service fee act. This committee should be interested in that piece of legislation. My first reading of it is that it's a positive step forward. I would hope that if it moved forward in the proper way, it will provide a way in which the people who value recreational fishing, who believe that their sector is undervalued....
I pay $17 a year for access to all of the tidal water resources of the west coast of Canada. That's absurd. I would hope that the bill doesn't get through without people providing that proper look at it to make sure it meets the needs that I think everybody in this room has in common.