Mr. Speaker, yesterday, Radio-Canada's Enquête aired a shocking report on lobster smuggling in New Brunswick. This is troubling for the people of Gaspé and for the Maritimes as a whole.
The problem is all the more serious given that, for the past several weeks, troubling revelations have come to light at the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans about political interference in fisheries officers' efforts to combat illegal fishing. Officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are reportedly keeping experienced officers from doing their job.
Why are senior department officials intervening to prevent the law from being enforced?