Mr. Speaker, I know the member for Selkirk—Interlake had a lot of input in this budget because, if we look at his situation, these are areas where he had a lot of concern for his constituents. He wanted to ensure they had the tools and resources they needed to get the job done on their farms and ensure they can produce a good, healthy crop and have a good lifestyle.
What we were seeing in Saskatchewan with my riding and in the municipalities was just silliness. People would go to put in a culvert and all of a sudden DFO representatives would come and say that they could not do it. They would actually say, “You've got to park that backhoe for three weeks until we come back and look at where you're going to put that culvert. You're going to have to maybe change it by two feet or three feet or you're going to have to put a whole pile of stuff in there.”
What was interesting was that in a lot of these waterways, there was no water. They were waterways where maybe for three weeks water would flow during the spring runoff, and then there would be no water in them for the rest of the year unless we had a torrential downpour. There was silliness going on on the Prairies in terms of DFO, the navigable waters and Fisheries and Oceans.
That is one thing the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans got correct. He understands what is important to maintain a proper vibrant fishery. He also understands the balance of ensuring that what is represented and what is done on the Prairies is actually taking care of the fisheries and also taking care of the needs of farmers and the rural municipalities that work in the area.