Mr. Speaker, it is certainly a pleasure talk to my hon. friend. I have been fairly worried about him lately when I see him wandering around his riding, campaigning with a Conservative provincial member and the next day I see him going around, hand in hand, with an NDP member who is on a journey of obstruction. I am really beginning to worry about him. I am glad to see he is here tonight focused on his work.
The hon. gentleman, as I told him when he raised the question in the House, has been concentrating too much on issues outside his realm of responsibility. He has to stop listening to people who are not involved in the process, people who have their own opinions on what should be done or what was done. If we look at the results of what was done years ago, we paid a very heavy price.
A few years ago, when I was in opposition, when I was the critic and when I was a member of the standing committee, we set out to change NAFO and to give some teeth to the organization so we would have control over the fish, not only within our 200 mile limit but on the continental shelf.
The hon. gentleman questioned the fact that we had committed to custodial management and he said that we did not do it. We went to NAFO last year, not with the people with whom he has been speaking, but with representatives of industry, who I suggest he talk to, and with the commissioners to NAFO, one of them being the head of the biggest union in the country, the person responsible for every fisherman in Newfoundland and Labrador or, I would say, 98% of them.
Maybe the member should talk to those people. Maybe he should talk to the many representatives of industry who were affected and ask them what they did at NAFO. They gave NAFO teeth whereby we Canadians could ensure we managed what happened on the nose and tail by having our surveillance out there, boats out there ensuring that our fishermen could catch their own and that the others live by the same rules. These boats, under the jurisdiction of the former government, were tied up to the wharf in St. John's with not enough fuel to go to sea.
On top of that, not only did we do it last year but we went back this year, as I told my hon. friend, and we solidified the changes in the convention.
In relation to custodial management, let me quote what custodial management is. It is trying to get the same kind of management system or regime in place outside the 200 mile limit as we have inside. I think for most of us who have weighed in on the custodial management argument over the years, this is basically what we are pursuing. We are pursuing the same type of management regime outside as inside.
If we could get all contracting partners of NAFO to fish under the same system, especially one that was acceptable to Canada, then we pretty much would be where we wanted to go. That is, word for word, exactly where we are. Does my colleague know who said that? It was said by the member for Burin, Burgeo, St. George's.
