Thanks, Mr. Chair, and hello to the witnesses. MP Zarrillo, thanks for joining us today.
One of the many things that you learn in a committee like this and with a vast array of expertise is that oftentimes there are common themes. We had four ministers of fisheries in the Atlantic provinces speak to the fact that we're in a climate crisis and that we need to adapt. We've heard that from fishers, fishing associations, processors and NGOs.
Some of common themes there were, number one, we're in a climate crisis; number two, they have the largest industry in Atlantic Canada that is impacted by those fisheries; and number three, we need more investment. We've given about $1 billion since 2015 into small craft harbours. As MP Cormier said, that's not enough. We need to do better, and we also need to adapt how we do things.
With all of that in mind, there's a lot of food for thought here, and I particularly liked the conversation between Martin and MP Cormier about a strategic committee. I thought that's an interesting approach.
I want to take some time to unpack the whole concept of climate-resilient harbours. My dad, when he worked in mine rescue, would often have these bigwig engineers from Montreal come and meet with the miners to tell them how the mine was going to be run and how to have structural integrity, and oftentimes the miners would say, “Come here, buddy. I want to talk to you about how we think we can make this work.” The practitioners—that is, fishers and fishing associations—know how to make things work.
When it comes to the environmental resiliency of the small craft harbour, I'm wondering, Martin, Luc, and Mr. MacLeod, if you can give us an idea of what that means to you in terms of creating resilient small craft harbours, or for that matter other coastal infrastructure, such as processing plants that are mere feet away from the ocean. What do you mean by creating environmentally resilient small craft harbours and other infrastructure? What does that mean to you and what are the steps that need to taken, say, in the next year or two or three?
We'll start with Martin.