Mr. Speaker, I really do not understand where the member is coming from. Nowhere in my presentation did I make any statement to support what he has just finished stating.
My hon. colleague from Quebec realizes just as well as I do that, as far as fresh water controls are concerned and jurisdiction, it is in the hands of the province. His province has been doing an admirable job, as have a great number of other provinces, regarding fish habitat within those fresh water bodies. That is what I was referring to.
Most of my speech addressed fish habitats outside the fresh water boundaries, in other words those in the salt water. That is what I was directing most of my presentation toward.
The partnership will exist. There is no doubt about it. In my presentation I clearly point out that most responsibilities will be handed over to the provinces. There will be a conference this coming fall where more clearly defined responsibilities will emerge. There is no doubt about it.
Responsibilities that lie in the hands of the Quebec government will not probably be identical to those that would lie in the hands of British Columbia or some other province simply because of so many differences, so many other factors that have to come into the picture.
It is practically impossible to come up with a standard formula or a standard set of rules and regulations for each and every province. The member knows that and I know that.
As more discoveries are made, new information and new knowledge emerges on the scene as time goes on. His province, with its sense of responsibility, will do the best it can to take that knowledge, information and technology and introduce it into the environment or situation to be sure that the fresh water habitat, as well as the salt water habitat, are protected and maintain a certain level of productivity that would be beneficial to the people of Quebec just as it would be in every other area of this country.
We hope for that, we pray for that and we have to ask the member to guarantee that.