Mr. Chair, I am proud to rise in this debate tonight. My question is quite simple.
There is a fair amount of confusion and misinformation being spread about the actual status of the stocks and the responsible solution that the minister has found for a very difficult subject. It is never fun to tell a fisherman that there are less fish to catch. If the previous government had done that more often, we would not be in a lot of the trouble that we are in now.
During his speech, the member for Cape Breton—Canso chose to make a drive-by smear about one individual licence granted in Nova Scotia. The member for Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte asked a number of questions in the House about the same licence. Would the hon. member from the NDP agree to have the individual come to the fisheries committee to explain his side of the story?
People in this House may not know Tim Rhyno but I do. He is a 13th generation fisherman who had his licence stolen from him by the federal Liberal government. His grandfather sailed on the Blue Nose. Now that does not entitle him to a crab licence but it does tell us that he is a fisherman born and bred. I am appalled at the absolutely unethical, slanderous, morally incompetent and wrong allegations that have been made against this fisherman.
The member from the NDP can listen to the Liberals or he can listen to my question. Will the member allow this guy to come to committee to tell his own story or will he listen to the Liberals?