Mr. Speaker, let me first welcome our colleague back to the House of Commons. It is great to see him with us in good health.
As he knows, our decision to introduce indigenous participation is consistent with our government's commitment to developing a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous peoples. The selected proposal was one submitted by the Five Nations Clam Company. It was selected because of its inclusion of indigenous communities across Atlantic provinces and Quebec, allowing the benefits of this lucrative fishery to flow to the greatest number of people.
He understands that tabling the commercial confidences that our department received by competing bidders would be inappropriate.