Madam Speaker, I want to be first to stand up and congratulate the hon. member, my colleague from St. John's West, for bringing this motion before the House. It is an extremely important issue. I know it is important for Newfoundland, but I believe this issue is important for all Canadians.
Having served on the fisheries committee when we were looking into the issue of the nose and tail of the Grand Banks, I was among those who heard from the mayors of communities like Trepassey and Burgeo, who came to tell us about the devastation of their stocks. We heard the stories about the lack of enforcement under NAFO on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks. We know that there is overfishing going on and the resources are stressed.
We feel that the government needs to muscle up and protect what belongs to Canada. It is not a problem that Newfoundlanders should have to face alone. It is a problem on which Canadians need to stand with our neighbours in Newfoundland. We need to defend what is ours. This is our continental shelf.
I want to ask the member about enforcement. He mentioned that little Iceland muscled up and managed to defend its fisheries from overfishing and foreign fishing. We know that there are observers on board these vessels. We know that many times the observers report infractions but there is no enforcement.
I wonder if the hon. member would like to comment on Canada's ability to respond, be it via Coast Guard or via armed forces surveillance. How would Canada need to respond in order to implement custodial management of the nose and tail and the Flemish Cap of the Grand Banks, which is a Canadian resource, a part of our heritage that needs to be defended?