Fisherman's Road

I posed the following question today (April 30th) in the House of Commons, as a follow-up to a series of meetings held last week by the NDP’s six-member Atlantic caucus, which I chair, in Prince Edward Island. Mr. Speaker, Last week my Atlantic caucus colleagues and I had the pleasure of visiting PEI. We met with people concerned about the Conservative’s total lack of transparency and their habit of making decisions with no local consultation. Like the cuts to Veterans Affairs … Like the possible elimination of fleet-separation and owner-operator policies … Like the closure of Service Canada’s claims centre in Montague, which will have a severe impact on the local economy, and was announced with no notice, no justification ... Mr. Speaker, The people of PEI deserve better. Their question is this: Why is this government refusing to be accountable? The question was responded to by Tony Clement , president of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Federal Economic D...

The federal Fisheries Act hasn’t exactly done the job of protecting fish (especially off the East Coast). Now fish habitat is on the line. Federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Keith Ashfield issued a news release Tuesday confirming what fishery experts have warned of for weeks – the Harper administration is set to gut the Act so that Ottawa would be responsible for fish, but not their surrounding habitat. Opponents say excluding the word "habitat" would kneecap the act (a move said to be driven by government’s agenda to accelerate mining and oil-sands projects), to the point that 625 Canadian scientists came together recently to demand that the Harper administration abandon its plans. The Fisheries Act states that “no person shall carry out any work or undertaking that results in the harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat.” Conservatives changes would make it OK to destroy waterways provided that it does not “result in an adverse ef...

A Spanish trawler has been issued two citations for fishing infractions on the Grand Banks. The infractions were issued against the Pescaberbes Dos on Feb. 3rd, although they were only made public on the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans website in mid April. That said, DFO is getting better at reporting illegal fishing. Read here . Still, details of the latest infractions – the first of 2012 – are scarce. An inspection determined that 134.7 tonnes of “product” (no mention of the particular fish species) aboard the Spanish ship wasn’t properly labelled. It was also determined that 30.2 tonnes of turbot was not marked as having been caught on the Grand Banks. In the past, foreign trawlers have tried to pass off fish caught on the Grand Banks as fish that had been caught elsewhere in the world’s oceans as a way to sidestep NAFO rules. The Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization monitors fishing outside Canada’s 200-mile limit, but it’s generally seen as too...

I posed the following question today (April 5th) in the House of Commons: It's now been 67 days since Burton Winters went missing and his family is still waiting for answers, Mr. Speaker. 67 days, and rhetoric doesn't cut it. From day one, we have had nothing but contradiction and blame from this government. It's time for some facts. The premier of Newfoundland and Labrador expects a full explanation by today for why a Cormorant helicopter wasn't sent to help the search - will she get the explanation? A simple question, Mr. Speaker: If weather wasn't an issue - and there were no protocols - why weren't the Cormorants deployed? Peter MacKay, minister of National Defence: Mr. Speaker, let us do just what the honourable member has asked. Let us inject some facts and reality into this situation. I spoke extensively about the matter with the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador yesterday, as I have previously. We had an investigation within ...

"The causes of the cod collapse have still to be fully understood. There is no simple answer. One thing we know is that ITQs (Individual transferable quotas) did not prevent it. Advocating them as a blanket solution therefore defies experience." - Herb Breau served as federal Fisheries minister in 1984 under the Liberal administration of John Turner. Breau was commenting in this week's Hill Times ( Just the facts please, on Canada's fishery policy ) on a potential move by the Harper government to eliminate the fleet-separation and owner-operator policies, key pillars of the East Coast fishery that protect the sanctity of the traditional inshore fishery. It's thought that once the policies are gone the Conservatives would implement ITQs. Read here . Here's another quote from Breau: "In some fisheries ITQs work well; in others they have a mixed record. They are more difficult to supervise and in some cases the real private-sector experts - the fis...

I posed the following question today (Monday, April 2nd) in the House of Commons: Mr. Speaker, the government's spin is not going to bring back Burton Winters or prevent future tragedies. There are serious problems with Canada's search and rescue, and this minister has presented nothing but empty excuses. First, bad weather. Then, imaginary protocols. And, finally, broken equipment were to blame, when all along it seems to be a question of misplaced priorities. When will the government commit to a full and independent inquiry to find out what happened to Burton Winters, and to investigate the state of Canadian search and rescue? Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence: Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Forces constantly look at protocols, look at updates, look at placement of equipment around the country, and all of the aspersions that the honourable member has cast on the word of the Canadian Forces really do not do him or his party justice. These are brave men and women...

I posed the following question Tuesday, March 27 th  in the House of Commons: News flash, Mr. Speaker — too much spin makes people sick. First, the military blamed weather for failing to send a search and rescue helicopter to find Burton Winters. Only the weather wasn’t bad enough to keep a chopper on the ground. Then, they blamed communication protocol … only no one had even heard of the call-back protocol. What stopped the search for 14-year-old Burton Winters was broken equipment and misplaced priorities. Mr. Speaker, When will this government take responsibility and establish a full and independent inquiry into Canada’s search and rescue system. Julian Fantino, Associate Minister of National Defence:  Mr. Speaker, the loss of this young person is a tragedy and we all grieve over it.  I must add, though, that following this tragic incident, the Canadian Forces reviewed its responses.  Protocols were reviewed in relation to its support of gr...