Mr. Speaker, it goes without saying that we have lost some of our standing in the international community. The fact is that many other countries ratified the UN treaty straight away, but here we are. Four years later, it was not the House of Commons or the government that brought forward the bill. It had to be birthed in the Senate.
Absolutely, our oceans and the fish in them do not realize that they are crossing from the Canadian border over to the U.S. border. Therefore, international co-operation when it comes to our environmental issues and the sustainability of our fisheries is very critical for the future. If we fail at this, we do it at our own peril. Right now, Canada has an embarrassing record when it comes to environmental protection.