Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his speech. I listened very closely.
His speech is very similar to the speech made by the member for Skeena. I do not want to repeat some of the remarks I have already made. I once again remind him he should read the budget. He has put forward concerns about the licensing fees which were budget items in February 1995. For every $5 in cuts there is only $1 in cost recovery. This is part of the cost recovery. The hon. member should also keep in mind there was public consultation right across the province.
More to the point, hon. members often mention special interest groups. When special interest groups represent the ideology of these people they work hand in hand. They are holding hands with special interest groups. Look at the gun lobby. They are joining hands with the gun lobby so they should not tell us about special interest groups. When they represent their view, they are happy to work with them.
The licence fee was $30. For those who use the resource, it does not matter if they have a landing value $12,000 or a landing value of $1 million. The fee was an insignificant amount of $30. Now those people who take the most from the resource will pay a higher amount. It is a public resource. They have a beneficial access to that resource that not everybody has only because they have to pay that licensing fee. Should we charge the same amount?
Should we not charge those people who take more out of the resource? The figure of 400 per cent was used. Some fisherpersons make $1 million in a six to eight-week fishing season. Their fee is only going to be 1.6 per cent of their landed value. Do you think that is a huge burden on those people? Obviously, this amount is going to be rated depending on how much the landing value is. If there is a higher landing value then more will be paid. I do not think 1.6 per cent is very much. I am wondering if the member thinks that is too high.