Fisheries committee  I didn't organize this trip, but it's one that the ITK, Mary Simon's group, puts on every year for senior officials to visit the north. It is their trip. They organize it, and I will follow along. It's designed specifically for senior officials to get to know the real issues for the real people of the north.

Fisheries committee  Definitely the dynamics are changing. I don't know if the percentage is right or wrong. I know that the percentage on the land side was subject to years of debate, back and forth, give and take, analysis of function, analysis of need, and analysis of social impact. We must take social impacts into consideration as we make these decisions.

Fisheries committee  Certainly. We have, and the minister has, met with One Ocean as well. Again, it's exactly the same type of consideration. Governments need to balance the priorities, balance the needs, balance the requirements, to make sure that we achieve a result that is sustainable into the future.

Fisheries committee  From what I see right now, our employees in the regional offices and subregional offices are working very closely with the communities, with the people of the small harvesters industry. If there's a shortage, closer relations should be achieved on that level. These people work in the same environments.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. It is an ever-perplexing question, even for those who sit in the seat. I think you've all met associate deputies before. As you know, departments are very large, very complex, very high stress, and very demanding. The myriad of files that any one person can look at on a given day is phenomenal.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. I know that management at PNCIMA is a must in the vision, as it's currently written, of bringing the parties together to design something for it. I agree. I also understand, because I know British Columbia well, that it won't be easy to do that, to bring various parties together.

Fisheries committee  That's correct. Thank you for that clarification. What we had talked about on Tuesday was the previous plan, and the one coming up is not yet finalized, nor is it in the minister's office.

Fisheries committee  Some of my knowledge on those files is a little dated. I will refresh my understanding as I work in this department, but having done very similar work in looking at fish-forest interactions in my previous work, I know that there's a significant role for DFO. I actually used to spend some time teaching changing environmental practices in logging camps, and one of the things I taught was something called fish-forest guidelines, which were how to manage forestry operations and design logging plans while taking into consideration the impacts on fish, and what role the department would play on that in particular.

Fisheries committee  It hasn't come up, but it's an interesting question, and I thank you for it. I suspect that it will go into the mix. Thank you.

Fisheries committee  As I said earlier, the role of associate deputy minister varies a little with the department and the relationship between the deputy minister and associate deputy minister. In our case, we work in very close cooperation. We often attend the same meetings; we talk frequently. As you know, Ms. d'Auray has a lot of experience on the matters we're talking about, and that's in addition to my own experience.

Fisheries committee  The extraction is ongoing right now. It's almost done.

Fisheries committee  For this year, yes.

Fisheries committee  For the summer, no. It has to happen at certain water levels.

Fisheries committee  I don't know. I think those discussions would have happened before I arrived. I'm not sure what the planning went into for the two, the Hamilton Bar and the Spring Bar, for this coming year. I don't know what the conversations were last year. I know that obviously their fishery would have been taken into consideration, and really our goal and our role in the permitting of this is to protect the fishery in all of its elements.

Fisheries committee  No.