As long as DFO stands behind its policies—and we had a test of that in recent weeks, given the fire at Premium Seafoods.... As a one-off we were okay with a foreign vessel, and we were okay with it because the decision had ultimately been made, and there were certainly extenuating circumstances.
The idea of allowing foreigners to come in and actually buy resource access is a concern. It is probably the only real concern that any of us have.
I have not read the entire document yet. I've stayed focused on some of the exporting issues and those have been the focus of my members' wishes.
I am leery, and we can see that they are the worst overfishing countries in the world. Having them inside the 200-mile limit cannot happen. I think our policy is strong enough, and the minister has seemed willing to look at things very specifically. I think our one-off has happened and hopefully we won't see that again. I think it would be something that the industry, as a whole, would stand up to. We have spent too much time trying to get our house in order. We're seeing growth in haddock stocks. Regretfully, cod stocks aren't there, and the WTO says that killing seals and finding products for that is inhumane. Well, I look forward to the first visitors to Sable Island this spring and trust me, it won't be ponies they see, and it won't be white sands they're stepping in when they come off the boat, but I digress.
We need to make sure our 200-mile limit is held. If it has to be done at gunpoint, as we've done in the past, Canada will stand behind that, but we do need to make sure.
We're seeing a greater presence of foreign operators in shore-based businesses now, and that is starting to increase concern. When it's an American partner you're trading with and he's just trying to find a logistical way to manage things, that's one thing, because your sales are still there. But there are people from China who have bought in, in a small community in Cape Island. That's not the way we want to go, because we're going to start cutting out where the money is, and I do not see that as being beneficial either.
There are some concerns with access to resources and with how much investment and how much foreign presence we can have on Canadian soil.