Mr. Speaker, it is quite ironic that we have a situation where too many people are chasing too few fish and relying on this resource to support themselves and their families.
This is not new. We experienced the same thing a few years ago in the forestry industry. The same thing has happened in other natural resource industries.
I think the message which we have to give clearly and unequivocally is that we have to work on the renewal of the resource. We have to diversify our economy so that we do not rely on one source of revenue coming from one natural resource. We have to have a renewal mechanism which will help it to grow.
I want to commend the government on its initiative.
Frankly, whether we like it or not, were it not for the actions of this government I would be surprised if we had an international agreement that deals with fish stocks.
I want to ask my colleague to enlighten us a little on the program established by the provincial governments of Atlantic Canada to diversify their economies so they can deal with some of the difficult situations which the people of Atlantic Canada are facing.