Fisheries committee  It's a very good question. Let me start by saying that the regulations with respect to waste water treatment in Canada are the purview of the Minister of the Environment, rather than the Minister of Fisheries. I would say that it is an important issue, it is one that in Canada we do need to address.

Fisheries committee  The oceans protection plan is a project that actually crosses a number of different departments. It involves Fisheries and Oceans. It involves Transport. It involves Environment and Climate Change. I would say that approximately $800 million of that has been spent, but that's not simply by Fisheries and Oceans.

Fisheries committee  Let me start the answer, and then maybe I'll ask the Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard to supplement it. The original number was actually the contract with Chantier Davie Canada for the acquisition of the three icebreakers. The additional costs that were budgeted within the government are to cover things that are separate from the contract.

Fisheries committee  Obviously, in the context of a sustainable fishery, it's extremely important that we're basing quota decisions on science. The department certainly is working hard to ensure it has the appropriate resources and the appropriate capacity to do that. It relies on fishers to be doing the good work and ensuring that they're participating in fisheries, but it also requires that we have appropriate enforcement with respect to ensuring that the rules are being followed and that quotas on the catches can be relied on in the context of the work we're doing.

Fisheries committee  On the issue of plastics in the oceans, there are plastics that come from terrestrial sources but in the context of fisheries and oceans, it's particularly ghost gear. The ghost gear that's floating in the oceans is by weight almost half of the plastics that are entering the oceans these days.

Fisheries committee  I think part of this domestically is developing a coherent strategy that aligns some of the regulatory issues that we have around things like ghost gear and trying to ensure that we're creating incentives for people to do the right thing and return gear. It is also a technology issue, in making it easier to extract ghost gear and bring it back.

Fisheries committee  It is.

Fisheries committee  Yes.

Fisheries committee  Thank you. I'm happy to be here in my role as Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to discuss the supplementary estimates (A) for 2018-19. As was noted, I'm accompanied by a number of my officials and the Honourable Sean Casey, my very able parliamentary secretary.

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, in the context of this project, the government took the position that environmental sustainability and economic progress needed to go hand in hand. We followed with that mantra all the way through. Even though the scoping of marine shipping was scoped out by the previous government, we focused very much on marine shipping.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, environmental sustainability is at the heart of everything this government does. The decision with respect to the Trans Mountain pipeline originally was based on an assessment with respect to the environmental considerations. We have done an enormous amount of work with respect to issues associated with diluted bitumen and spills potentially in the water.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, some in the House like to engage in theatre; we like to engage in facts. We have done the work to ensure that the process can be handled in an environmentally sustainable way. The oceans protection plan is addressing concerns with respect to snow prevention, concerns with respect to snow response.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, my thanks to the hon. member; I know it is his last day in the House today. This government is committed to environmental sustainability. We have allocated significant funding to address water quality issues across this country, both fresh water and salt water. We intend to ensure on a go-forward basis that we are substantively addressing all of the various environmental concerns that have been raised in all regions of this country.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, this government has recognized the importance of ensuring environmental sustainability in the context of all of the decisions we have made. In the context of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, we have made significant investments in spill prevention through the oceans protection plan.