Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I've heard the importance of addressing abandoned and derelict vessels that remain a huge environmental concern along the coasts of British Columbia mentioned once already today. We know that these sinking and polluting vessels threaten food security for coastal communities and also the sovereignty of first nations as they contaminate traditional food supply and pollute our surrounding marine ecosystems. They are a danger in our waters. They're an eyesore along our coasts, as you know.
In January of this year, we saw that a vessel that had sunk and was abandoned was reported as spilling large amounts of fuel into the water for over a month. It caused chronic contamination, with fuel spilled on the beaches and other valuable ecological areas in a provincial park with no response. The Snuneymuxw Marine Division, which is nation within my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith, was not even informed of the incident by the Canadian Coast Guard.
We know that there are solutions being brought forward. Will the minister commit to working with other government departments and first nations—including Snuneymuxw—to finally put into place mechanisms to prevent vessels from being abandoned in the first place, to ensure that derelict vessels are not polluting our coastlines and to respond in a timely manner to mitigate environmental damages that may result?