Fisherman's Road

The following article is published in the Thursday, April 30th edition of Blacklock's Reporter , Minding Ottawa's Business, an online publication.  MPs Endorse Bootleg Fish Bill A Commons committee has passed a bill proposing new enforcement on illegal fishing amid complaints that regulators have no estimate of the size of the black market. MPs on the fisheries committee endorsed the bill that sets $500,000 fines for importing or processing unlicensed fish. “I do feel frustrated by this process,” said MP Ryan Cleary. “How much of that illegally caught fish may be coming into Canadian ports? We have no figures.” Bill S-3 An Act To Amend The Coastal Fisheries Act permits the seizure of illegal catches. Black market fish and seafood imports account for up to 32 percent of the U.S. market, by industry estimate. No comparable Canadian figures are known. Tom Rosser, assistant deputy minister of fisheries, earlier told the committee that Canada “is a very minor contrib...

Mr. Speaker, I begin my speech on the Conservative budget—my critique of the Conservative budget—by highlighting the fact that there are only five mentions of Newfoundland and Labrador in the entire 518-page document. Only five mentions, Mr. Speaker. As a representative of St. John’s South-Mount Pearl – one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s seven ridings – my priority is my riding and my province. And five mentions – one in a graph of crude oil prices, another in a statistic about pensions and the other three offhand mentions – is not good enough, Mr. Speaker. Not near good enough. My critique is both good and bad, Mr. Speaker. Make no mistake, there is more bad than good - there always is with these Conservatives. Well not so much bad news, Mr. Speaker, so much as wrong priorities. Conservative priorities that are wrong for Canada. Conservative priorities that are changing the face of Canada. Conservative priorities that put the wealthy first, Mr. Speaker, that ...

 I posed the following question today (April 29th) during Question Period in the House of Commons. Mr. Speaker, Marine Atlantic is a critical link between Newfoundland and mainland Canada. But for weeks now there's been an outstanding question of whether its budget would be gutted — as the main estimates indicated. The Minister said wait for the budget, but then there wasn't a word, not a whisper about Marine Atlantic in the 518 pages. Now, Marine Atlantic is referring all questions to the Minister's office. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister finally stand in her place and tell Newfoundlanders and Labradorians what's happening to our ferry service?

Senior officials with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans Thursday in Ottawa to answer questions on the federal budget and amendments to the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act. I took the opportunity to raise the $5.7 million set aside by the federal Conservatives over five years to secure new markets for Canadian seal products. The first official speaking is Deputy Minister Matthew King, followed by Tom Rosser, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister Strategic Policy.

I posed the following question today (April 22nd) during Question Period in the House of Commons: Mr. Speaker, They're raiding the emergency fund to give billions to the wealthiest, instead of helping average Canadians. Take Marine Atlantic as an example. After being told yesterday to "wait for the budget." There was nothing in the budget to address the massive cuts that the Conservatives have made to our ferry services. Mr. Speaker, Will the Minister come clean and admit that the Conservatives are moving ahead with an 85 per cent cut to the critical transportation link that the people and the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador cannot live without?

I posed the following question today (April 21st) during Question Period in the House of Commons. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador rely on Marine Atlantic - it's a critical transportation link that people, and our economy, can't live without. Yet in the main estimates, the government showed a cut of $97 million in operating funding for Marine Atlantic. This is unacceptable for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. The federal government has a clear obligation to protect this ferry service under our Terms of Union. Mr. Speaker, Will the Minister ensure that this budget has full funding for Marine Atlantic?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 8, 2015 CONSERVATIVES’ STORY ON FISHERIES INVESTMENT FUND DOESN’T ADD UP ST. JOHN’S – The federal government’s response to a written inquiry from NDP MP Ryan Cleary (St. John’s South—Mount Pearl) on the Fisheries Investment Fund leaves more questions than answers. “The federal government maintains that loss must be demonstrated for the province to access the Fisheries Investment Fund,” said Cleary. “So I asked for an explanation for where the $280 million figure comes from. If this is indeed for compensation after the fact, how did they arrive at this amount?” Instead of dealing with the specifics of Cleary’s question, the government provided a response filled with the same rhetoric the Conservatives have been using as talking points on this issue. “The inability or unwillingness to provide an answer for why they expected the $280 million to match the anticipated loss undercuts the federal government’s argument,” said Cleary. In his order paper question,...