I'm not frozen, nor am I a frozen prawn.
Minister, former premier Stephen McNeil from Nova Scotia, your home province, accused you, the minister, as well as the government. He was saying, quite frankly, that he was very dissatisfied with the handling of the situation in southwestern Nova Scotia. He said:
We are in a position where (all parties) are not sitting at a table to find what is a workable solution...This is only getting more entrenched.
Then we come over here to the west coast, and we're hearing from the west coast provincial government that it was not properly consulted on the decision leading to the closure of the Discovery Islands open-net pens. The provincial government was not at the table during that discussion. It was blindsided by the announcement and it also felt that it was excluded in that process.
We've heard from industry stakeholders that they've been trying to reach out to you personally, and to your department, to get answers and information. They have felt excluded and they've had no response.
Minister, why are you not meeting with those most affected by these decisions, whose livelihoods in these coastal communities are at stake because of these decisions that you're undertaking? Why not consult with them?