Question Period was an eventful one today in the House of Commons. Liberal MP Justin Trudeau made national headlines for calling Peter Kent, the federal Environment Minister, a “piece of sh-t,” and yours truly got in hot water for calling the minister of Fisheries and Oceans a “bully.” “Bully” is supposedly unparliamentary language (whereas “a pig with nothing but a squeak,” as one person informed me via Twitter, is not unparliamentary). I had no intention of calling Fisheries and Oceans Minister Keith Ashfield a bully. But in response to a question from NDP MP Fin Donnelly about how scientists are afraid to go public with concerns about cuts to Fisheries and Oceans, the minister asked, “Do I look like a bully?” It then just happened to be my turn to ask a question, resulting in the following exchange: Mr. Speaker, the answer to the minister's question, is “Yes sir, your department and you, sir, are a bully.” Some hon. members : Oh, oh! Hon. Jim Flaherty : He looks like a bully. Ki...

I posed a question last week in the House of Commons about why ACOA would approve a $1-million loan to a company that creates fish plant jobs in China? Turns out ACOA wasn’t alone in handing money to Ocean Choice International (OCI) to develop new technology to process yellowtail flounder – the very same species the company now wants to ship to Asia. The Newfoundland and Labrador government also kicked in cash. I submitted three questions to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency last week regarding OCI. The questions and official responses are found below: 1) How much was drawn on the loan to OCI? In June 2010, in response to a project proposal from OCI, ACOA announced a provisionally repayable loan of $1,000,000 towards the application of water-jet cutting technology to process yellowtail flounder at the company’s plant in Marystown. A total of $750,000 was disbursed by ACOA. The total cost of this project was $2.5 million, with OCI contributing $1.24 million, and the provincial go...

I posed the following question today in the House of Commons: Mr. Speaker, Yet another well-connected Conservative has received a patronage appointment. This time it's Reginald Bowers heading to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board. The board is responsible for resource management, environmental protection and safety concerns in the industry. Here's the rub: Mr. Bowers has little to no experience in the offshore oil and gas industry. Apparently managing a successful Conservative campaign is experience enough. When will the Conservatives take the development of Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore resources seriously , and stop appointing friends. The Speaker: The hon. Minister of Natural Resources. Order, please. Hon. Joe Oliver (Minister of Natural Resources): Mr. Speaker, Our government is appointing capable advisers. The Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board individual in question has decades of experience in regional econo...

Dec. 12th is an eventful day in Newfoundland and Labrador history. On this day in 1942, 99 people died in the Knights of Columbus fire on Harvey Road in St. John’s. There’s a theory that the fire was likely an incidence of enemy sabotage orchestrated by agents of Nazi Germany. The local musical troupe, Uncle Tim’s Barn Dance, was on stage that night. Uncle Tim was actually the stage name of my great-grandfather, Bill Duggan, whose two sons were on stage with him (Derm and Gus Duggan). Gus, a member of the Newfoundland militia, died in the fire. Years later, my mother was playing near the site of the former K of C hostel when she found a set of dog tags, owned by her uncle Gus. A vigil is planned for 11 p.m. tonight at the K of C monument on Harvey Road. ••• Today is also the 26th anniversary of the Arrow Air crash in Gander. Canada’s worst aviation disaster killed 256 military personnel and their crew. The chartered plane crashed seconds after it lifted off following a refueling stop ...

On Thursday, Dec. 9th, the second hour of debate took place in the House of Commons on my private member’s bill – the Newfoundland and Labrador Fishery Rebuilding Act. The following is my 5-minute speech. A vote on the bill is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 14th. Mr. Speaker, There has been a major breakthrough in the fisheries since the introduction of my private member's bill, Bill C-308, the Newfoundland and Labrador Fishery Rebuilding Act. The breakthrough took almost 20 years. It took tens of thousands of job losses, the biggest layoff in Canadian history. The breakthrough took unparalleled out-migration from the outports of Newfoundland and Labrador. The breakthrough comes after untold suffering and hardship, and a devastating blow to our heritage, a blow that still threatens our culture. The breakthrough is the long awaited acknowledgement that the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery is broken. The word “broken” has been used in recent weeks to describe the state of our fisheri...

I posed the following questions Friday, Dec. 9th in the House of Commons. Mr. Speaker, Yesterday in this House, the Associate Minister of National Defence described a flight on a search and rescue helicopter from the fishing camp as, “a very routine kind of endeavour, indeed.” Routine is taking a taxi to an airport. Routine is taking a taxi to work. I would like to ask the associate minister exactly what he means by “routine?” How frequently does the minister use a search and rescue helicopter to get back from vacation? Response from Chris Alexander (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence): Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence was on leave, at his own expense. He was called back to work on very short notice. Government aircraft were used in this case for government business. Every rule, much more exigent, demanding rules, for the use of government aircraft was followed. This is a government that has reduced the use of government aircraft by 80 per cent com...