Mr. Chair, it is interesting to be part of this debate tonight and to listen to the various opinions being put forward.
I think about the 6,000 sealers, those in Newfoundland and Labrador, who are impacted by this decision by the EU. I can only imagine what they are going through, having their livelihood taken away like that. They are people who have been sealing for years and years, resulting in a contribution to the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador of about $70 million annually. It is gone.
We have to ask why. What happened to it? Why did the EU take this decision? Why would they take such a punitive measure against Canada and Canadians?
I listened to my colleagues on the government side talking about what the Ambassador for Fisheries Conservation has done, or what the Minister of Foreign Affairs has done, what the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has done and, yes, what the Prime Minister has done. I have to ask why they were not effective.
Why did this decision come down from the EU? We know only too well that no matter how much we talk about trying to change it, once a decision has been taken it is going to be much harder to turn it around.
Why does my colleague think that the government was ineffective, resulting in the EU putting a ban on the seal hunt?