Fisherman's Road

I posed the following question yesterday (May 28th) during Question Period in the House of Commons. Mr. Ryan Cleary (St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NDP) : Mr. Speaker, Conservatives have grossly mismanaged the Canada-EU trade deal. The only thing they have done well is hide the details from Canadians. They promised $280 million for Newfoundland and Labrador in compensation. I asked the minister some simple questions on the order paper. Simple questions like: What was the purpose of the money? What was it to be spent on? What conditions are on the funding? However, the President of the Treasury Board claimed cabinet secrecy, and he refused to answer the questions. Canadians deserve transparency when it comes to trade deals. My question is simple. What are Conservatives trying to hide? [ Table of Contents ] Hon. Ed Fast (Minister of International Trade, CPC) : Mr. Speaker, our trade agreement with ...

    I posed the following question yesterday (May 28th) during Question Period in the House of Commons. Mr. Ryan Cleary (St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NDP) : Mr. Speaker, it is good to see that the minister has finally come clean on severance for John Lynn, there will not be any. It will be interesting to see if he actually qualifies for EI. No severance still does not answer the question of why John Lynn got the job in the first place. How about the Minister of Justice 's former chief of staff, Allan Murphy? How about Nancy Baker, who worked for the Minister of Justice before and after her sweet appointment? Will the Minister of Justice 's friends continue to sit in their comfy positions, or will these jobs finally be open to a fair and competitive process? [ Table of Contents ] Hon. Rob Moore (Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency), CPC) : Mr. Speaker, the hon. members c...

I posed the following question today (May 29th) in the  House of Commons. Mr. Ryan Cleary (St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NDP): There they go again, Mr. Speaker, making things up to distract from their own growing pathetic record of scandal and mismanagement. Just like their irresponsible patronage appointments.   The way that justice minister's friends and former staff got their plum positions at ECBC was wrong. Conservatives killed the public appointments commission. Conservatives broke their promise to end patronage. Conservatives are acting just like the Liberals. It is David Dingwall all over again: entitled to their entitlements. Clearly, these appointments should never have happened.   Would the justice minister and his friend John Lynn come to committee and explain this egregious example of pork patronage?     Hon. Rob Moore (Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities A...

I posed the following question today (May 27th) during Question Period in the House of Commons. Mr. Ryan Cleary (St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NDP):   Mr. Speaker, Conservatives seem to think that the best way to deal with out-of-control patronage at Enterprise Cape Breton is to fire the guy who got the patronage in the first place, but no where do Conservatives take responsibility for the pork patronage. Do Conservatives really expect Canadians to believe that hiring well connected Conservatives was all John Lynn's idea?   Time for some accountability, Mr. Speaker.   The minister has said that it is time to terminate Mr. Lynn's appointment, so I have a simple question. What severance package, what amount of severance, can Mr. Lynn expect?   Hon. Rob Moore (Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency), CPC) Hon. Rob Moore (Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency), CPC...

The following statement was aired on CBC’s Fisheries Broadcast this evening in response to a rant on the same show last week by Con Senator Fabian Manning. Find a personal review of Manning's rant here .  I disagree with recent statements by Fabian Manning to the effect that he has little influence in Ottawa over the Harper Conservatives to change fisheries policy — even from where the Senator sits as Chair of the Senate Fisheries and Oceans Committee. Manning may not know it, but he does have the power to turn the Harper administration on its ear. He has the power to spark a revolution in federal fisheries management, and a revolution has been a long time coming.  He has the power to force the Canada that ends at Quebec, as he puts it, to sit up and take notice of Atlantic Canada and rural Newfoundland and Labrador. Manning was a maverick when he broke away from Danny Williams and sided with fishermen. He can do it again. Manning...

I gave the following speech on Saturday, May 17 th , during the NL NDP convention at the Holiday Inn in St. John’s. Good morning Newfoundland and Labrador, all the ships at sea, and to the big orange elephant in the room. The future of New Democrats in Newfoundland and Labrador rests right here. Before I get there, I have to comment on you poor, sorry lot — fish-belly white and haven’t seen the sun since, what, October? And now, giving up your glorious, glorious May 24 th weekend to spend in Sin John’s, at the Holiday Inn, listening to me — me — when you could be trouting or in a gravel pit. But I guess you could say the sun is shining on New Democrats. So here we are, with much work in front of us — resolutions to debate, constitutions to amend, a leadership question to deal with. And I want you to know — right off the bat, from the start, that I wouldn’t touch the leadership question with a 10-foot pole. Make no mistake, this is a t...

—    Phil Barnes (right), general manager of the Fogo Island Co-op, gave the above quote this morning during a news conference held in Mount Pearl at the office of MP Ryan Cleary to discuss the impact of cuts to the inshore quota of northern shrimp. To the left is Brad Watkins, a fisherman from Cottlesville near Twillingate.    Good morning, Thank you to the media for coming. I’m here today with Brad Watkins, a fourth-generation fisherman from Cottlesville, and Phil Barnes, general manager of the Fogo Island Co-op. Brad will speak in a moment on the direct impact that the cut to the inshore quota of northern shrimp will have on his enterprise, his crew, and his community. Phil will then speak on the impact the inshore quota cut will have on the Fogo Island Co-op. I organized this news conference to report on the recent activity of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. In early April, the Conservat...