Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his leadership on this. It is just a joy to work with him on behalf of British Columbians.
The very first department the Treasury Board reviewed when we formed government was DFO. It restored $1.4 billion into the base budget, which tells us the magnitude of the horrific cuts the Stephen Harper government made. It had threatened to close the DFO lab at the waterfront in West Vancouver, which is widely considered as the best lab for access to fresh water and salt water in North America. It had constantly diminished the DFO office in Squamish, and it closed DFO offices in Pender Harbour, which has caused a subsequent lack of enforcement and monitoring of overfishing, which continues to be a source of strong disappointment on the path of the community.
The outrageous cuts made by the Stephen Harper government are still forefront in our minds. Our Liberal government has worked tirelessly to put back some of those lost protections. Does my hon. colleague have any confidence that the Leader of the Opposition would take us back to those dark days?