Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, witnesses. Those were very interesting presentations during this important study we are doing. It's been very enlightening.
My first question is for Mr. Sullivan.
On February 17, FFAW-Unifor issued a news release that said:
At the Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation annual meeting, Minister Murray put forward her ideas and vision for the fishery on the east coast of Canada and stated clearly that her goal is to leave as many fish in the water as possible and to grow as much vegetation in the water as possible so that the Atlantic Ocean can better absorb carbon to combat climate change.
The release went on to say:
The Minister also stated that fish harvesters will have to accept this sacrifice as part of Canada’s commitment to fight climate change, noting that given technological advancements, harvesters could change career paths and work remotely from their communities.
I'm not sure that statement was based on the quality of the science she was receiving from the department, so I asked the minister about that news release in the House in question period in March.
Her response was, “I have been misquoted at times”. Again this week in the committee of the whole, I gave her a chance to correct herself and to say whether or not she was misquoted. She said, “I think that is a complete misconstrual of what I said.”
This is my opening question, Mr. Sullivan. Is that a misconstrual? It reminds me of a Groucho Marx quote: “Quote me as saying I was misquoted.” It's always sort of an excuse in a private meeting afterwards to say you were misquoted.
Did the minister say that?