Thank you, Madam Speaker.
I question how seriously your department takes this. I was recently provided a letter that had been sent to you from the Okanagan Basin Water Board, dated October 18, 2023. Your department responded on your behalf on October 17—one year to respond to a letter that simply had two requests. I would suggest to you that you and your ministry have failed to take the risk of aquatic invasive species as a serious threat to western Canada.
I want to move on to the next piece regarding commercial catch monitoring. Last year the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development found that DFO had failed to “collect the dependable and timely [information about fish] catch that it needs to substantially manage commercial marine fisheries and protect Canada's fish stocks” from overfishing.
Why has DFO failed so badly to monitor commercial harvests?