I've had conversations with the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association in Prince Edward Island. We've had our talks. I've talked to DFO on Prince Edward Island, and I pretty much was saying that we really need to sit down and have a discussion around this, because I think they need to know what their role is. I don't think it's clear what their role is. Look at what happened in Nova Scotia. Cutting traps of the livelihood fishery was not their role. That was wrong. They shouldn't have been doing that.
With the RCMP, I think we have to be careful. They have to know what their role is in all of this in helping to protect the Mi'kmaq, because this is about protecting the Mi'kmaq when we are asserting our right to a moderate livelihood.
I've talked to them. I think that what really has to happen, though, is that DFO has to be taken out of the negotiations. They shouldn't be negotiating our rights when they're trying to enforce fisheries. CIRNAC needs to be brought to the table. Carolyn Bennett needs to be the one who's setting the parameters and appointing negotiators to come and talk with us.
We want to talk to the negotiators. This whole thing about the RRAs, rights and reconciliation agreements, those are nothing but a slap in the face to first nations. At the end of the day, if they have an envelope of money and they're holding it up to try to get us to sign these agreements that are detrimental to our rights, that can't happen. We can't be signing those things. That money should just be given to the first nations so that we can continue to develop our commercial fisheries and our livelihood fishery.