Fisherman's Road

I gave the following one-minute statement today (April 30th) in the House of Commons. Mr. Speaker, Yet another commercial fish stock off the East Coast is in trouble. The quota for northern shrimp will be cut this year by 30 per cent. That’s a lot of grief, which this Conservative government has chosen to inflict on the inshore fishermen of Newfoundland and Labrador, on our processing plants, on our outports. Who’ve had MORE than their share of grief. This government has decided to follow the so-called Last in, First out policy that favours big business offshore licence holders. This is not about conservation or economics. It is about blatantly serving the top of the food chain at the expense of our fishermen. The principle of adjacency whereby those closest to the resource benefit from the resource has been tossed overboard. The Last-in, First-out policy should only work for this government and the cabinet ministers on the Conservative fro...

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans has launched a study of the oceonographic and other factors that led to a decline in shrimp stocks off Newfoundland and Labrador. The study began on Monday with witnesses from DFO's science branch. The following are my questions and the department's responses. Mr. Ryan Cleary (St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NDP): Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to the witnesses appearing before the committee. This committee is studying the changing ocean conditions, or other factors, off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador that led to stock fluctuations in northern shrimp and other species. I was a fisheries journalist for a lot of years. In the early 1990s when the commercial fisheries were closed off Newfoundland and Labrador, I was the fisheries reporter for the daily newspaper, The Telegram in St. John's, Newfoundland. And I remember the talk of the day, there was some scientific talk about the impac...

I gave the following speech today (April 29th) on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in the House of Commons. Mr. Speaker, I stand in support of the motion by the honourable member for Newton-North Delta. That, in the opinion of the House, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program has been open to abuse resulting in the firing of qualified Canadian Workers, lower wages, and exploitation of temporary foreign workers. Therefore, the government should: A) impose an immediate moratorium  on the stream of lower-skilled occupations, which include fast-food service and restaurant jobs and; B) request an urgent audit of the whole program by the Auditor General of Canada. Mr. Speaker, I want to first deal with abuse within the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. There have been complaints across the country, Mr. Speaker, but my perspective is the Newfoundland and Labrador perspective, w ith particular emphasis on my riding of St. John’s South-Mount Pearl. Mr. Speake...

I gave the above speech today (Tuesday, April 8th) in the House of Commons on Bill C-31, the Budget Implementation Act. Mr. Speaker, I stand in opposition to Bill C-31 , the budget implementation act. My opposition comes on two fronts, content and process. The budget bill is not just about the budget; if it were, how simple and straightforward our opposition would be.   The bill is what is known as an omnibus bill. It contains everything but the kitchen sink. It is massive. It is more than 350 pages. It contains almost 500 clauses. It amends dozens of bills and includes a slew of measures that were not even mentioned in the former finance minister's budget speech.   The bill touches on tax measures, veterans, railway safety, hazardous materials, temporary foreign workers, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, a new bridge for the St. Lawrence, new Canadians, and access to old age security and guaranteed income supplement. It goes on and on.   ...

I posed the following question today (Tuesday, April 8th) during Question Period in the House of Commons: Mr. Speaker, What Newfoundland inshore fishermen and their families need to hear is a commitment to protecting their livelihood. Everyone agrees that the shrimp stock needs to be responsibily managed, but what DFO is proposing fails to do that, and unfairly targets the inshore sector. And it's not just fishermen and their families who will take the hit - it's also local processing plants that are supplied by their shrimp catch. Mr. Speaker, Will the minister commit to working with inshore fishermen to protect the industry, to protect what little they have left?

I introduced the following Notice of Motion today (Monday, April 7th) at a meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. The motion will be debated on Wednesday. That the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans immediately undertake a study of the impacts of the cuts to the inshore shrimp quota off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador on fishermen and the local economy; and that the study include a review of the department's science related to the fishery and the management policy known as last-in, first out; and that witnesses include but are not limited to DFO officials, DFO scientists, local fishermen and local processors.

I gave the following one-minute statement today (April 1) in the House of Commons.  Mr. Speaker, Today Newfoundland and Labrador marks the 65 th anniversary of Confederation. The Terms of Union were signed one minute before midnight, March 31, 1949, Ottawa Time  – which would have made it 1:29 am Newfoundland time, April  1 st , April Fools Day, 1949. A national story from that day read: “Today a country dies. Not as they die in Europe by enemy fire and sword, or by aggressive annexation, but by its own hand, the democratic choice of its people.” The question today is whether we’re further ahead because of the death of Newfoundland, the country. I have travelled the world as an MP — Africa, Japan, the Middle East — and Canada, in so many ways, is the envy of the world. But here at home ...  Our commercial fisheries are in tatters — shrimp’s in trouble now. The lack of a fair energy policy has held us back for decades. Gulf ferry rates are too ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Cleary lauds Fort Amherst Lighthouse Heritage Designation   MP Ryan Cleary (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl) is delighted with the federal Conservative government’s decision to designate the Fort Amherst Lighthouse as a heritage structure, describing it as a step in efforts to develop The Narrows. “We are working with all levels of government and with the philanthropic community to make things happen in both The Battery and Fort Amherst,” says Cleary, Chair of The Narrows, a group dedicated to preserving, protecting and enhancing the historic entrance to St. John’s harbour. “We applaud the decision by the Conservative government to designate the lighthouse as historic. This is definitely a step in the right direction towards our goal for The Narrows.” The Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, which was adopted in 2008, allows for the protection of federally owned lighthouses on Canada's coastal and inland waters that have significant heritage...