Getting back to the question about Denmark, I found information that says, and I quote, “Denmark has implemented this requirement for all Danish ships of 20 GT....” It comes from a Transport Canada document, so I'm a bit confused as to the status of the Danish 20 gross tonnes, since I got it from some of the folks who are sitting here today. However, it doesn't sound like my amendment will get a single vote from anyone with voting power around this room.
I just want to say clearly that I certainly have heard this from my constituents. There is a concern. Those who are bringing in...particularly a lot of the recreational vessels, the people who can afford it. One of my favourite lines from Gus Speth about neo-liberalism is that a rising tide lifts all yachts. Well, those are not the folks I'm worried about carrying the insurance. As for fishing, I have the same concern; I have a lot of fisher people and a lot of fishermen in my riding, but given all the other costs they carry to conduct fishing operations, I think carrying wreck insurance would be a very small component overall. There are other ways to deal with that in making sure that those who have the smaller vessels, who don't carry the insurance, aren't therefore swept up with as much of the responsibility that this act creates. Somewhere between 20 gross tonnes and 300 gross tonnes, there are a lot of vessels.
Unfortunately, we're only going through this clause-by-clause now. There won't be any other opportunity until this bill comes back to us some years from now to see how it's working. I think we all know that a lot of what will make this bill work will be subsequent regulations. This could be gotten at there, so I would urge that. The other thing, of course, that will make this bill work is the extent to which the budget is there to actually act—when the various ministers under this act with the power to act have the resources to do so.
Thank you, Madam Chair.