Fisherman's Road

I gave the following 10-minute speech Thursday (May 31st) in the House of Commons.  Mr. Speaker, My perspective on this motion is a Newfoundland and Labrador perspective.  And in that light, I begin.  First the fishery, now the fisherman — that will be the theme thoughout my speech.  First the fishery was destroyed.  Under consecutive federal Liberal and Conservative governments groundfish stocks such as cod and flounder were practically wiped off the face of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. There has been an embarrassing lack of recovery — in fact, there aren’t even plans for a recovery.  The Conservatives voted against that bill (my bill), the Newfoundland and Labrador Fishery Rebuilding Act — last fall.  So 20 years after the biggest layoff in Canadian history, comparable to the Prairie Dustbowl of the 1930s  — of course, I’m speaking of the shutdown of the northern cod fishery, the anniversary of which, ...





“Never for one moment have I forgotten that I was a Newfoundlander and a Grand Banker, or been less intensely proud of it. My roots are here. Whenever I come back I say to myself, “I’m back in my own country and with my own people.” A year ago I was saying, “I’ll never get back to Newfoundland except perhaps in my coffin.” Then you gave me this delightful invitation, and the effect was to rejuvenate me … This has been a very wonderful and heart-warming experience for me. I shall be joining shortly in what I know by heart and have known all my life, the Ode to Newfoundland.” - The late Eugene Forsey, from a brief address to the 1987 Grand Bank Tricentennial celebration. *** The above quote is contained in the book, Eugene Forsey, Canada’s Maverick Sage , by his daughter, Helen Forsey. Forsey was raised a Conservative before converting to social democracy in the 1930s and joining the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (now the New Democratic Party). Later in life, he became a S...

The following column by Peter McKenna appeared in the May 25th edition of the Ottawa Citizen, as well as other newspapers around the country.  Am I missing something or has the Harper government placed Atlantic Canada in its cross-hairs? With proposed changes to several key areas of public policy, it’s hard not to think that this region is being singled out for special punishment.  For instance, possible changes to the owner-operator and fleet separation provisions of the fishery are certain to put fishers in Atlantic Canada in a precarious position — most likely seeing their boats and gear eventually bought up by companies and individuals with deeper pockets.  Perhaps the deepest cut of all comes in the form of the newly released adjustments to the Employment Insurance (EI) program, which will surely penalize numerous seasonal workers in this region by trimming benefits to repeat users, imposing stricter rules for eligibility, and by altering the “suitable ...

The federal Conservatives reserved one of their one-minute statements before Question Period in the House of Commons Tuesday just for me. Tilly O’Neill Gordon, MP for Miramichi, had this to say: ••• Mr. Speaker, the NDP leader recently announced his new shadow cabinet and there is certainly weakness among the ranks. He appointed the member for St. John's South-Mount Pearl as critic for ACOA and post-secondary education. This member has developed the reputation of an “unapologetic Newfoundland separatist,” and is willing to take extreme positions on unity. He certainly has not been prepared to stand up for one of Newfoundland and Labrador's oldest industries — the seal hunt. Instead of standing up to the radicals who oppose this traditional way of life, he suggested that it may be time for sealers to just give up. Our government is proud to stand up for Canadian sealers. It is shocking to hear the member for St. John's South-Mount Pearl speak so harshly a...

The United Kingdom trawler Marbella was cited April 9th for a fishing infraction committed while fishing cod off Newfoundland just outside Canada’s 200-mile limit on the so-called Flemish Cap. The citation (details of which you’ll find here ) was issued because the trawler did not have a valid capacity plan, as required under the conservation and enforcement measures of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). NAFO oversees fishing in international waters, although it’s pretty much toothless, unable to enforce the quotas it sets. The citation was the third one issued to date this year. The first two were slapped against a Spanish trawler in early February for illegal fishing. Some details are found here , but my office has written the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to fill in the rest of the blanks. Stay tuned. A crisis in quotes The following series of quotes pretty much sum up the history of the NL fishery. (First published in April 2010 on...



I gave the following one-minute statement today in the House of Commons. Mr. Speaker, There’s outrage today in my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador. A long simmering outrage that’s reached the boiling point over at the latest, unbelievable example of how the federal Conservative government is failing our mariners. News broke Tuesday that medical calls for help from ships off Newfoundland and Labrador — and only off Newfoundland and Labrador — were being routed 5,000 miles away to Italy. The calls were being directed to a Rome-based non-profit organization that’s been described as the “soup kitchen of telehelp.” It was bad enough the Conservatives closed the Maritime Rescue Sub-centre in my riding — directing distress calls to Halifax and Trenton, Ont. Mainlanders have a hard enough time understanding my people. Let along Italians. Our search and rescue response times are among the worst in the world, our mariners have died waiting for help that didn’t ...

I gave the following speech on the Conservative budget in the House of Commons on Tuesday, May 8th. Mr. Speaker, I stand today in opposition to Bill C-38 — An Act to Implement Certain Provisions of the Budget Tabled in Parliament on March 29 th , 2012, and Other Measures.  Let me be clear from the get-go, Mr. Speaker, not only do I rise in Opposition to the Conservative budget, which is a backward step in so many ways for Newfoundland and Labrador, and all of Canada.   Then again step isn’t the right word — backward leap seems more appropriate.  A backward leap for Newfoundland and Labrador, and all of Canada.  I also rise in opposition to, and I quote, “Those other measures.” Because this bill is an omnibus bill — a massive 421-page bill that not only contains the implementation of the 2012 budget.  But contains dozens of other measures buried in its page, hidden in its pages.  Measures that included everything but the kitche...

The stomach of an adult harp seal was photographed recently by a sealer off the northeast coast of Newfoundland. The stomach was busting with crab. Many of which were female and full of pink eggs. The fisherman counted exactly 96 crab in the stomach. According to the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the population of harp seals in the northwest Atlantic is estimated at 9 million, more than four times what it was in the 1970s. Nine million harp seals times 96 crab equals 864 million. Who say seals aren’t having an impact?

When it comes to the arts community, Mary Walsh is true NL royalty, the Queen of the Rock .  I had the pleasure Thursday (May 3 rd ) of having lunch in Parliament with Mary, who was awarded the 2012 Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award (Broadcasting) from the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation.  Congratulations, Mary — you’re wicked.  Here’s Mary’s bio: Mary Walsh has made an unparalleled contribution to broadcasting in Canada as a writer, performer, director, comedian, and political satirist.  She is best known for her work on the hit CBC TV comedy series This Hour Has 22 Minutes (which she created), portraying such memorable characters as Dakey Dunn, Connie Bloor, and the legendary “Princess Warrior” Marg Delahunty, notorious for her ambush interviews with Canadian public figures.  In a career spanning close to 40 years, Ms. Walsh has deftly lampooned our national icons and raised our political awareness, and her...

I gave the following 10-minute speech in the House of Commons on Monday, April 30, on MP Jack Harris’ motion, which called for Canada to adopt an international search-and-rescue readiness standard of 30 minutes at all times for the military’s Cormorant helicopters. The Conservatives voted against the motion. Mr. Speaker, I stand with my colleague — the honourable member for St. John’s East — in support of Motion 314. Canada does indeed lag behind international search-and-rescue norms — that’s an indisputable fact.  And I urge the federal government to do what it takes to achieve the international readiness standard of 30 minutes at all times, from tasking one of the military’s Cormorant helicopters to becoming airborne.  Thirty minutes wheels up, in other words — 24 hours a day, 365 days a year ... a search and rescue response time of 30 minutes around the clock.  As it stands, Mr. Speaker, the wheels-up response time for the military’s search...