If Loyola Hearn gets to be fisheries minister in a Stephen Harper cabinet, there will likely be a problem.
For one thing, if Hearn gives in to his pet belief that northern cod stocks can handle a commercial fishery, as he told CBC recently, then he might run smack into the scientific projections that cod stocks can't handle the fishing done on them now.
That's a problem both for fish stocks and for Hearn's long-term prospects as fisheries minister.
If he rejects the calls for a cod fishery, then he'll raise the political ire of those he has worked to court over the past few years. That's a problem for Hearn, but a win for the fish.
Of course, if the information was placed in front of people who have a direct interest in the fishery - , i.e. the fishermen - odds are good they'd make the right choice.
That's what Hearn is quoted as referring to at the end of the CBC piece. Too bad he didn't make that his only comment, rather than offering the view it was okay to open the fishery.
We are going to be in for an interesting spring if Hearn gets the fish portfolio.