Mr. Speaker, last May, the Prime Minister announced the creation of the hunting and angling advisory panel, an acknowledgement of our government's appreciation for the conservation record of Canada's hunting and angling community.
Today I am proud to talk about our government's recently announced $10 million recreational fisheries conservation partnership program. Through partnership agreements between the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and local angling groups, this program will enhance recreational fisheries by restoring habitats and improving fish production. This partnership program was enabled by changes that our government made to the Fisheries Act.
The value of recreational fishing in Canada is an impressive $8 billion, and an estimated four million Canadians are active anglers. Our new program is a win-win for anglers, tourism-dependent communities and, of course, Canada's aquatic ecosystems. It will deliver real conservation results, a notion that the opposition simply does not understand.
As chair of the Conservative hunting and angling caucus, I am so very proud to be part of a government that stands up for the angling and hunting communities across Canada.