Thank you, Mr. Chair. Welcome, Minister.
Minister, you've been listening to a number of questions in this committee. You posed a very important question to the official opposition member, a Conservative member, on the issue of a seal cull. He failed to answer that question. It's important that fishers understand that he would not endorse a seal cull because of the disastrous implications it would have on the marketplace in Europe and the U.S. that would devastate the east coast fishery. We have to approach it in a pragmatic and practical way.
Everybody knows that the seal herd is growing too large and measures have to be put in place. Rhetoric is easy on the wharf. Dealing with the reality of the intricacies of the fisheries is important.
Madam Minister, I respect your decision to manage this effectively and to protect our key markets in Europe and the U.S. on that particular point.
The other point that I would like you to respond to is that we've had a lot of questioning on demanding more and more from the department in a host of areas, such as protection, infrastructure and research. However, the Conservative opposition voted against every line in the key budget. It voted against small craft harbours. It voted against protection, and it voted against science. The Conservative opposition voted against every line item in the budget of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. It's important for fishers to understand who has their back and who is standing with them.
Would you give a quick opinion on that?