Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Gibbons, I would like to make one last attempt and convey all the hope felt by fishers. When I talk about fishers, I am referring to master owners, deckhands, workers in the processing plants and plant owners. I want to convey all the hope those people are placing on collaboration between the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration to apply pressure in order for the foreign workers to arrive in time.
In the present circumstances, with the shrimp fishery experiencing a drastic decline in stocks that jeopardizes the very existence of some economies in the Quebec fishery sector, I am trying again. Does an emergency unit seem to you to be an option that could quickly resolve the issue of foreign workers? That is the most immediately urgent thing at this time. Second, could that emergency unit, that crisis unit, quickly look into putting support in place?
Of course, some of those people have a little cushion, some savings, but some of them are really up against it. The boats will not get sold and a lot of people are going to go bankrupt. Can this be avoided? Can there also be assurance that the know-how will still be available when fishing resumes, when solutions are found for these fishers? This is all fundamental. In these circumstances, could a crisis unit be put in place to deal with the various pressing problems in the Quebec fisheries, but also in the Maritimes, in the short and medium terms?