Mr. Speaker, the rationale and what happens are two different things. Maybe the rationale was okay but we have to look at what is happening.
The fishermen coming in from sea cannot even get to the wharf. What has been done is the government transferred it to them, said here is the rationale, and then washed its hands and walked away from them. That was the previous government. Now the new government wants to cut the program by $20 million, when in committee the Conservatives on the committee said yes, we need an extra $15 million and at the same time the same government wants to cut it by $20 million.
The rationale was okay but the actuality of what is happening is wrong. We could see it right there on the water. The fishermen stay on the water and they are worried about a storm. As one colleague said, a storm on the Baie des Chaleurs could happen in the snap of a finger.
One day one fisherman was in the middle of the Baie des Chaleurs and by the time he could get to the Gaspé coast, because he was closer to that shore, he lost all the windows in the front of his boat. The waves broke all the windows and he was almost killed.
That wharf is needed. The fishermen need to be able to get in fast. For the safety of the fishermen and for them to be able to make a living, we need government involvement, not government shying away from it. Right now what the government is doing is walking away from it. This is totally wrong. That is my answer to my colleague's good question.