Fisheries committee  Yes. If you look historically, it was originally a commercial-use facility. That really died off with the devastation of the Lake Superior fishery. There's a very clear line in the sand there. Since then, it's been primarily recreational. We're seeing a resurgence of tourism in

Fisheries committee  I think the key is, again, partnerships and diversification. It would be very narrow-minded to think that these harbours would be just commercial or just for recreation or just for tourism, because they can be a combination of several efforts. Our recommendation would be that whe

Fisheries committee  We're likely looking at about $1 million per party from the federal government. That would involve essentially fixing the assets there that are broken. Then from the provincial government, we would pursue those upgrades that would be beneficial to regional tourism—things like fue

Fisheries committee  Essentially, it's under development, the reason being that we just started pursuing a divestiture process. Within that we're starting to look at this asset as becoming our asset, and at how exactly we would deal with that asset and offset the potential costs via revenue, whether

Fisheries committee  I think the only thing is that we're seeing this as one of the untapped markets in our local tourism industry. We feel that these assets are so particularly important in northern Ontario because our economies are so based on resources. Diversifying our economies has been a priori

Fisheries committee  Yes. The lease terms are fairly favourable toward the government. Fundamentally, it's not the cost of the lease as much as it is the regulations and the liabilities put on small communities. In our particular lease, all the liability for the small craft harbour we operate is on

Fisheries committee  No, it's not, because it's not a municipal asset under our asset management regulation.

Fisheries committee  That's correct. Essentially, the only upgrades we've been able to do are what we've considered emergency upgrades—the difference between shutting down the facility or not based on health and safety concerns.

Fisheries committee  Not at the current condition, no.

Fisheries committee  Essentially, I do. Community services is just a different way to say parks and recreation, so it's fallen under our banner as parks and recreation to try our best to manage the asset. What we're allowed to do within our contract is essentially minor repairs to the facility.

Fisheries committee  It entails minor repairs and no major capital upgrades, as well as the operations of the facility. It's basic things like taking funds for use of the facility and making sure the place is clean, very minor things, all things considered.

Fisheries committee  Safety and security would be our liability, essentially, as it's been transferred to us with the contract.

Fisheries committee  Yes, that's correct.

Fisheries committee  The revenue is minimal. We give 10% or $500, whichever is more, to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for the lease of the facility. Most of the revenue generated would go back into the ongoing maintenance of the facility. It's very minor. We're talking in the tens of thousan

Fisheries committee  Thank you very much for having us. We certainly appreciate the opportunity to be consulted. For those of you who don't know where Wawa is, we're the small town with the big goose on Highway 17 in northern Ontario. We have some history in our community with the Department of Fis