Mr. Speaker, today two ferries were stuck in the ice, this time off the coast of Cape Breton. The ferry between Newfoundland and Labrador, the Sir Robert Bond, is still hampered by ice.
The Coast Guard exceeded its budget this fiscal year and no additional employees were called in. Additionally, the largest icebreaker in Atlantic Canada, the Louis S. St-Laurent, has been on refit in Halifax.
I ask the government why it is jeopardizing the lives of people and the economy by operating the Atlantic fleet understaffed and undercapacity in one of the worst ice seasons we have seen in this country?