Mr. Chair, the minister has often suggested that her government's approved access to credit and initiatives to build wharves will help fishermen today facing immediate personal financial crisis. Those statements kind of speak for themselves. They just do not fly with fishermen who cannot pay their bills today.
Immediate changes to how EI benefits are determined this year, income support, support for inventory costs and a federal government-funded, licensed rationalization program are what is needed.
Could the minister tell us if any of these much needed programs are coming or just press releases paid for by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for the Conservative Party of Canada, because that is all the minister has provided thus far?