Mr. Speaker, last week the Island Fishermen Cooperative Association in my riding of Acadie—Bathurst was awarded the 2016 Business of the Year award by the Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick.
The business was founded in 1943 by a coalition of co-operatives that wanted to build a cold storage facility in Lamèque in order to process cod.
Today the co-operative plays a critical role in the economy of the Acadian peninsula. It employs over 450 people and has one of the largest northern shrimp processing plants in Atlantic Canada. The plant also processes snow crab, rock crab, herring roe, and lobster, and it develops innovative products to identify new markets.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the management and employees of this business, which is a source of pride for the riding of Acadie—Bathurst.