Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I also thank him for his contribution to the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.
I was at that meeting and just as in any other government department if there are areas in which we can improve the way fisheries and oceans works, if we can eliminate areas of duplication and if there are areas in which we can create more efficiencies, we are open to that. The minister is very open to that. He has stated we always want to look at how we can improve things.
One of the things which was done, of which the hon. member is aware, was the merger with the coast guard. That was part of a process to create a synergy in which we can operate more efficiently and in which there is greater flexibility.
The hon. member should support the bill because it takes a much broader view of our oceans. The bill does not in any way take away from provincial rights. It will enable us to work with the provinces. It will encourage us to all work together. For those reasons I hope the hon. member will support the bill.
Part of the reason the bill came about was the National Advisory Board on Science and Technology said as a federal government we have to do a better job in managing our oceans, that we are not doing a very good job. We accepted its advice.
We will have to manage in an ecosystem and in broader terms. We have the longest shoreline in the world and we have to look at it differently. We have to look at our oceans in terms of an asset we have to treat with respect. When we exploit that asset we have to look at what the interdependence is. The bill finally brings together a strategy on how to deal with our oceans.