Fisherman's Road

I posed the following question to Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea during a committee meeting in the House of Commons today (Monday, March 31st).

I posed the following question today (Monday, March 31st) during Question Period in the House of Commons: Mr. Speaker, Conservatives are once again ducking accountability at ACOA. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency will no longer prepare reports on regional disparity ... hiding any negative impact of eliminating the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation. Conservatives also used their monster budget bill to scrap ACOA's board. The board had guaranteed regional representation and could have been fixed to provide proper oversight. The real problem with ACOA is obvious, Mr. Speaker - rampent Conservative patronage. So why is the government mismanaging ACOA and reducing oversight ever further?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 28, 2014 OTTAWA – Instead of cracking down on patronage, the Conservatives are instead taking steps to avoid accountability for the decisions they make regarding the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). This was reviled in the Budget Implementation Act tabled today. “Since taking power, the Conservatives have cut nearly one third of ACOA’s budget and have used the agency for rewarding patronage,” said NDP ACOA critic Ryan Cleary (St. John’s South—Mount Pearl). “By scrapping the requirement for the Minster to report to parliament on the impact of the agency’s actions on regional disparities, the Conservatives are once again showing their disdain for accountability.” In addition to using the Budget Implementation Act to end the mandatory five year reports, the Conservatives are also using the bill to move forward with its plan to eliminate the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC) by folding it into ACOA. “They are clearly in a rush to scrap ECBC a...

I published the following article in the most recent edition of The Pearl newspaper.  It was only recently that I learned of the Sealer’s Toast: Bloody decks.  I posted the toast on Facebook and a friend contacted me to say that when she was in Grade 3 her father helped her with an essay on sealing, insisting it be titled “Bloody decks and bumper crop.” And she never forgot it. I also read that when our Fighting Newfoundlanders went over the top at Beaumont Hamel they raised their hands as if they held glasses and toasted, “Bloody decks,” but I can’t confirm that. As MP, I spoke to a couple of high school classes in Mount Pearl recently, touching on a host of subjects from politics and Canada Post to Confederation and our place in Canada.  The kids were sharp, even on a Monday  morning, and eager to hear more about their Newfoundland and Labrador history. Later, I spoke with the principal and he said there’s barely any mention of our history in the h...

I gave the above 10-minute speech on oil-spill liability in the House of Commons on Tuesday, March 25, 2014. Mr. Ryan Cleary (St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NDP) :   Mr. Speaker, I stand in support of Bill C-22 , the energy safety and security act. It is measured support. The act deals with both offshore oil and gas operations and the nuclear liability and compensation act, but I am only prepared to speak on oil and gas.       My riding of St. John's South—Mount Pearl in my province of Newfoundland and Labrador is not exactly known for its nuclear industry, although the word “nuclear” could be used to describe my province's dislike of the Conservative government, a nuclear dislike that will redline in 2015. I could not pass that up, Mr. Speaker. The issues surrounding oil and gas development are paramount in Newfoundland and Labrador. Oil and gas have made us a rich province, a have province. For too long, Newfoundland and Labrador wa...

The following letter to the editor is published in today's (March 22nd) Weekend Telegram.  As member of Parliament for St. John’s South-Mount Pearl, I’m often asked whether I like my job. My first response is to say that what I do is not a job — it’s a life. But yes, I enjoy what I do — fighting for Newfoundland and Labrador. Because it’s always a fight, within my caucus or against the government, an uphill battle to push our interests against those of other, larger provinces. The numbers are against us in most every way. The fight is also against the Harper administration and its mission to change the face of Canada so that it’s no longer recognizable. To date in 2014, I’ve spoken in the Commons on veterans, the seal hunt, the need for a national inquiry into murdered and missing aboriginal women, the Unfair Elections Act, offshore health and safety, Marine Atlantic, the fishery, Canada Post, and the sunken carrier Manolis L. I’ve also published two mailouts to my co...

I gave the following 10-minute speech in the House of Commons on Thursday, March 6th.  Mr. Ryan Cleary (St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NDP) : Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Bill C-555, an act respecting the Marine Mammal Regulations (seal fishery observation licence) , but the bill, like so much other lip service the Conservative government pays to the east coast seal hunt, is a charade, a charade to make it appear that the government is actually doing something for the hunt, for sealing. It is a sham to make it appear that the government is defending the seal hunt, an illusion to make it appear that the government is a champion of the seal hunt. All the bill amounts to is Conservative sleight of hand. Bill C-555 would increase the distance an unofficial observer, in other words, anyone who is not there to hunt, a seal protester, for example, must keep from the sealing. Right now it is against the law for an unofficial observer to come within a half nautical mile ...