Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam for his answers. Unfortunately, I would like to have seen at least the Minister of Fisheries here or the parliamentary secretary to answer these very serious questions.
The decline of salmon stocks on the west coast puts fishermen and our communities in crisis. We are looking at possible closures. First nations are being forced to share what little catch they are getting. I can only reiterate the importance of this issue. I cannot fathom why the minister or his parliamentary secretary are not here today.
Again, I am speaking to salmon enhancement that could go a long way to improve stocks on the west coast. When we look at funding for salmon enhancement at 1999 levels in the year 2008--