Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question is twofold. At home, on the North Shore, I have noticed several communication issues—as Mr. Bragdon mentioned earlier— that have led to requests to delay the fishing season due to the COVID-19 fears. The requests came from very isolated communities, where a number of fishing vessels will be docked and where fishers will not have access to accommodation, given the physical distancing guidelines. The same is true for Indigenous communities.
Although the health guidelines and the delay in the fishing season are the responsibility of Quebec and the provinces, it was nonetheless extremely difficult, given the fishing areas for which workers come from Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and the North Shore. People move from place to place.
Has Fisheries and Oceans Canada thought about improvements to ensure that the communities in my region, which have already suffered enormous economic and social impacts, do not have to suffer them next time? Of course, I am thinking of the eastern Quebec First Nations and isolated communities, such as the members of the Coasters Association on the Lower North Shore.