Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's interesting absorbing all of the nuances coming across in the various commentaries.
The Fisheries Act is like a political football in some respects. It gets kicked around a lot. If you had a picture of it, it would be covered with band-aids because over nine years, we've looked at this issue, then this issue and then this issue. It would appear that everything from major policy right through to how the DFO allocates its time needs a good shaking-out.
I don't think this is the sort of thing that we should leave to the Senate. I honestly don't think it's a good thing to leave to any future Parliament. There's a lot of corporate learning here, and some of it isn't going to be here the next time around.
I think it's time we go back. I forget who said this, but a couple of people made the point that we've had some really good studies here. I am among those—probably most of us—who are underwhelmed by the kind of action we've seen from the DFO. Yes, it's always going to be something, as Gilda Radner would say, but we need to really get down to the foundation of this thing and start to build something that's going to be much more proactively involved in dealing with a very changing landscape, be it fish stocks, climate change behind the fish stocks, all of the social and cultural issues we're running into or the fact that our fishery on the west coast has basically collapsed. It used to be the source of such community pride, cultural identity and everything else.
The Fisheries Act needs a good shaking-out. Sure, the current one is absolutely worthy, but it's an example of yet another band-aid being put on a football. It's leaking air like crazy, and with one more good kick, the thing is going to pop.
Let's not lose sight of the responsibility that we have—especially people like me and Mel, who have invested nine years in this thing—to come out of this Parliament with a Fisheries Act that's far more in tune with the challenges we have now and, especially, the ones that are coming.