Madam Chairman, the hon. member started at the end. I merely wanted to tell him that Liberal ministers managed the fisheries, and that Quebec has long asked to be involved in managing, for one thing, the fishery in Quebec. We are asking to manage the resource.
So, if it had not been for federal Liberal ministers, if the Quebec government had been managing the fishery, perhaps Quebec would not be experiencing so many problems in this area today. That is my answer to the hon. member.
I would like to point out something else. The hon. member said that the minister was honest in telling people that there might be a moratorium. People should not be told there might be a moratorium unless there are measures to help them. It is simple. To announce a possible moratorium, you say, “In the event of a moratorium, we will try to find ways to help you”. You do not say, “There might be a moratorium, thanks, have a nice day”. That is not how life works. If I tell you I am going to cut off one of your feet, I am going to tell you why. And I am going to tell you, “I am going to help you. I am going to try to look after you”. This is an example. If I am a doctor, and I tell you this one day out of the blue, I am at least going to offer you something to offset the news. I am going to say, “You will get something; we are going to try to help you”.
However, this is not what the minister did. The minister said, “There may be a moratorium, but we do not know what we can offer you. Perhaps we will help you. We do not know. There are programs in place”. We are told again today, “I am not responsible. It is other departments that are responsible. So we will sit down together”.
But we may be a month away from a moratorium. Imagine people in their living room saying, “In one month, I will have no job and I already no longer qualify for employment insurance, because the Liberal government cut my benefits. I am stuck in the gap”. What a life. What hope is the government giving to these people? Absolutely none. It tells them, “We will sit down and review the situation”. But we are a month away from a possible moratorium. I am sorry, but it is a little late to start thinking. The government should have begun its thinking process long before; it should have set up a committee with the provinces and the main stakeholders, as we had asked back in November, but this was done only after the holidays. Again, this is a little late.