Thank you, Minister. It's good to finally see you here. We were starting to get jealous. You've been to the Senate twice and we hadn't seen you yet, so I'm glad you've made some time for us today.
Mr. McDonald mentioned the Fisheries Act review, and you said in response to Senator Hubley, and again now to Mr. McDonald, and I quote, “One of the things that everyone mentioned to me is they wanted to see these lost protections restored. We're happy to...restore these lost protections, pretty much...everyone I talked to wanted to....”
I guess you haven't spoken to farmers and municipalities in my riding in British Columbia, where for years they wanted DFO to get out of their drainage ditches to allow them to farm. The only way they can farm is if they're allowed to drain their land so that they can get onto that land and maintain it, grow their crops. They were quite happy, as were the municipalities like Chilliwack, Kent, and the Village of Harrison Hot Springs, to see that drainage policy reviewed and to get DFO out of those man-made drainage ditches and allow them to farm.
Don't you think it's a bit of a waste of the resources of your department to get back into the farming ditches in British Columbia and other parts of the country, which, given the limits of resources of government and your department, will necessarily move fisheries officers away from productive fisheries like the Fraser River or others that actually need protection?