Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, before I came to this place, I worked most of my professional career in entrepreneurship and education. Even when I was doing education, I was teaching entrepreneurship or innovation. This is a very important subject and very dear to me. As the member opposite mentioned in his speech, Canada recently received a grade C on innovation.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, like the previous government, our government decided it was important to bring a new participant into the surf clam fishery. However, unlike the Conservatives, we remembered to include indigenous communities. We are proud of our decision, which will benefit the greatest possible number of Atlantic Canadians.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, as we have stated, these allegations are absolutely false, no matter how many times the Conservatives restate them in the House. The fact that there is a new participant in this fishery should be no surprise to the Conservatives. They started a similar process three years ago.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, we are obviously happy to work with the commissioner to answer any questions that he might have. Our government believes that increasing indigenous participation in offshore fisheries offers a powerful opportunity to advance reconciliation. That is why we created a process to consult industry and indigenous communities on potential participation in this surf clam fishery.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, our government is proud of our decision to introduce indigenous participation, and it is consistent with our government's commitment to develop a renewed relationship between Canada and first nations people. The minister made this decision to allow for increased indigenous participation in the fishery, and we reject any claim to the contrary in the strongest of terms, no matter how many times it is repeated in this House.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the good work that our hard-working members from Newfoundland and Labrador do every single day, and in particular the member for Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, who has been in constant contact with the minister. I have also been pleased to meet with the entire Newfoundland and Labrador caucus, individually and as a group, on many occasions, to work on many innovative solutions to challenges in the province.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, our decision to introduce indigenous participation is consistent with our government's commitment to developing a renewed relationship with Canada and indigenous peoples. The minister made his decision to allow for increased indigenous participation in this fishery, and we reject any claim to the contrary in the strongest of terms.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, like the previous government, our government decided it was important to bring a new participant into the surf clam fishery. However, unlike the Conservatives, we remembered to include indigenous communities. We are proud of our decision, which will benefit the greatest possible number of Atlantic Canadians.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, again, with regard to process, the Conservatives should not be surprised, as they went through the exact same process three years ago. The only thing was that they forgot to include indigenous communities. We had a robust process. We are proud of that process, and we are proud of the decision that assured that the value from this public resource is going to benefit the most number of Atlantic Canadians, including indigenous nations in Atlantic Canada as well as Quebec.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the fact that there is a new participant in the surf clam fishery should be no surprise to the Conservatives across the way. They started a process three years ago to accomplish the exact same thing, the big difference being that unlike the previous government, we had a robust process that included indigenous people.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, like the previous government, our government decided it was important to bring in a new player in the Arctic surf clam fishery but, unlike the Conservatives, we did not forget to include indigenous communities. We are proud of our decision, which is going to benefit the highest number of Atlantic Canadians.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, our decision to introduce indigenous participation is consistent with our government's commitment to developing a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous peoples. The minister made his decision to allow for increased indigenous participation in the fishery, and we reject in the strongest of terms any insinuation to the contrary.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the fact that there is a new entrant entering the surf clam fishery should be no surprise to the Conservatives. Three years ago, they went through a similar process. The only difference is that they forgot to include indigenous people. Our government did not forget to include indigenous people.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, as I said, an increase in indigenous participation in fishing is consistent with our government's commitment to developing a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous peoples. Enhancing access to the Arctic surf clam fishery broadens the distribution of benefits from this public resource, and it is a powerful step toward reconciliation.

Fisheries and Oceans  Mr. Speaker, our decision to increase indigenous participation in fishing is consistent with our government's commitment to developing a renewed relationship between Canada and indigenous people. Enhancing access to the Arctic surf clam fishery broadens the distribution of benefits from this public resource and is a powerful step toward reconciliation.