Mr. Chairman, the answer will be as short as the question.
First, I would like to thank the minister for his question and to congratulate him on his work. I think that he, as much as we tonight, earnestly wishes that the resources provided to the Coast Guard could be increased.
I believe that there is no doubt whatsoever that the fees that have been charged by the Coast Guard over the past number of years have had a major impact on the reduction of traffic in the St. Lawrence and a major impact on the reduction of the number of stopovers in Quebec ports.
To answer his questions, I would simply say that, yes, it is important to find the resources required for the Coast Guard. I wonder about the fact that, in this period of budgetary surplus, we act as though we were in a period of budgetary restraints, as was the case at the beginning of the Liberal regime. We still get the impression that we have to cut to the bone, when we have the resources to ensure that the government can carry out its mandate, which is to provide a number of services, particularly with respect to transportation corridors.
If we must ultimately resign ourselves to charging fees for icebreaking, navigational aids and marine services, I would like them to be charged to the Canadian marine industry as a whole, and not simply to the marine industry in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in the St. Lawrence.