Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present a petition, and sitting beside me is the member for Nanaimo—Cowichan, which is signed by over 200 individuals from Nanaimo, Duncan, Cowichan, right across Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.
These are citizens from British Columbia who are concerned about the federal government's inability to look at the issue of west coast halibut allocation.
The NDP has been calling for a summit on this issue of halibut allocation. We believe that the fisheries and oceans ministry has to take this into consideration and come to British Columbia to resolve this issue.
Yesterday I met with representatives from the B.C. Wildlife Federation, including Mr. Ken Franzen, who has just received the Fisheries and Oceans Canada national recreational fisheries award for his outstanding contribution to the industry through his conservation efforts and the sustainability of this important part of Canadian life.
The B.C. Wildlife Federation, which has a membership of over 100,000 and includes communities from across B.C., is extremely concerned about the negative impacts of the current allocation. They will have a flotilla of boats protesting this on Friday, in Victoria, to bring more awareness to this important issue.