Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is talking about the most lucrative fishing industry in Atlantic Canada on the east coast.
He is talking about an industry that contains one resource and two main factions: the traditional crabbers and the non-crabbers. We are also dealing with the maritime provinces and the province of Quebec. Each year the negotiations start and go on for a long time.
Since June 19, 1996 negotiations have been ongoing with the various industries, with the various unions, with the traditional crabbers, with the non-traditional crabbers and with the provinces.
Two weeks ago there was an agreement by all parties, each side compromising to do as much as possible to come up with a crab plan that satisfied as many as possible in the case that each party had to put water in their wine.
As the plan pertains to Quebec, every accommodation was made for the province of Quebec, the province of New Brunswick, the province of Prince Edward Island and all fishermen involved to come up with the best possible plan.