Debates of Nov. 4th, 1994
House of Commons Hansard #121 of the 35th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was security.
Topics
- Marine Transportation Security Act
- Points Of Order
- Down's Syndrome Awareness Week
- Government Spending
- Justice
- Remembrance Day
- Michael Smith Award
- Energy
- Sovereignists
- Gun Control
- Governor General Scholarship
- Gun Control
- Remembrance Day
- Ethanol
- Wallaceburg
- Toyota Motor Corporation
- Edmonton
- Unemployment Insurance
- Pharmaceutical Industry
- Immigration
- The Environment
- Salmon Fishery
- Mil Davie Shipyards
- Foreign Affairs
- Flags Of Convenience
- Agriculture
- Laurier Club
- Gun Smuggling
- Lighthouses
- Climate Change
- Film Industry
- Income Tax Act
- Liberal Government
- International Trade
- Ports Canada
- Points Of Order
- Committees Of The House
- Public Service Staff Relations Act
- Petitions
- Questions On The Order Paper
- Remembrance Day
The Environment
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
Hamilton East
Ontario
Liberal
Sheila Copps Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment
Mr. Speaker, last week, the hon. member opposite said that we could not have a Canadian environment act because environmental issues fall under provincial jurisdiction. Her leader approved of the bill, yet voted against it.
Today, she is suggesting that a plan of action affecting industries in every province be developed without getting the provinces involved.
As I said-I repeat it here today and I will repeat it in Bathurst on Monday-the federal government will do its utmost to try and achieve a 20 per cent reduction, but we need the co-operation of all provincial governments, including the Quebec government. And I do hope that Mr. Brassard will join us.
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
November 4th, 1994 / 11:30 a.m.
Reform
John Cummins Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, a Department of Fisheries and Oceans document reveals that on March 25 of this year, three months before the opening of the salmon season, senior fisheries officials on the west coast were warning of a disaster if the level of enforcement was further downgraded on the Fraser River. They warned of a "repeat of the missing sockeye problems that occurred in the 1992 season".
Why did the minister ignore these warnings and initiate the reduction in the enforcement effort which led to the disaster of 1994?
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte
Newfoundland & Labrador
Liberal
Brian Tobin Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I know of his genuine concern about the state of the salmon stock. Many stakeholders in British Columbia are concerned about the state of the salmon stock.
I do not know what document the member is referring to. It is evident that many enforcement officers who work for DFO in the Pacific region have expressed concerns through the system about the state of enforcement. Indeed, as I said several weeks ago, many of those concerns and detail have not reached me.
It is for that reason two nights ago, for two and a half hours, that I as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans sat down with 40 enforcement officers from all over the Pacific region to hear from them firsthand their concerns about the state of the stock and their suggestions for improving the situation.
I have given them a commitment that I will come back to them through the department with a solid plan within our fiscal means to ensure proper enforcement everywhere the salmon run to do the job that is necessary.
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
Reform
John Cummins Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, I warned the minister last spring and others tried to and he refused to listen.
As we learned on BCTV last night, rather than accept blame for his incompetence the minister is fanning the flames of racism by saying: "The biggest goddam conservation problem on the Fraser River is the Sto:Lo"-
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)
Order. I would urge members feeling as passionately and as strongly as they do in this place of vigorous debate on all issues of importance, and this one specifically, to choose their words carefully.
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
Reform
John Cummins Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, I was quoting the minister. He said: "The biggest-conservation problem on the Fraser River is the Sto:Lo". Will the minister admit that he is afraid that a real judicial inquiry will simply point the finger at his own incompetence?
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte
Newfoundland & Labrador
Liberal
Brian Tobin Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, if anybody has been playing games that seek to generalize about an entire group of people, an irresponsible attitude about an entire group of people in the fishing industry, it is the Reform Party that does it with respect to Canada's First Nations, that does it with respect to Canada's immigrants, that does it with respect to Canada's poor, that does it with respect to anybody who does not have a right wing, narrow minded, bigoted attitude about people in the country.
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
Reform
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Brian Tobin Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL
Mr. Speaker, let me say something. What I have said in the province of British Columbia, what I have said to everybody I have-
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
Reform
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Brian Tobin Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL
Excuse me, you have asked a question. Now take the answer.
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
The Acting Speaker (Mr. Kilger)
Order. First I remind everyone to direct their interventions through the Chair. Second, in order that we might get as many questions and answers on the record as possible today, both should be succinct and brief.
Salmon Fishery
Oral Question Period
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Brian Tobin Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte, NL
Mr. Speaker, what I said to every one of the groups I met in British Columbia-and I met with aboriginal leaders, the leadership from the commercial sector and people from the sport and recreational sector-is that all groups without exception, if the truth is to be heard in this place, must accept obligation for conservation, enforcement and compliance whether they came to this nation first or came to this nation last.
If the member is not trying to cull selectively from meetings, I said that whenever there is a problem in whichever group there is a problem, be it commercial, sport, recreational or aboriginal, we will stand, call the problem a problem and bring about the necessary enforcement measures.
Mil Davie Shipyards
Oral Question Period
11:35 a.m.
Bloc
Antoine Dubé Lévis, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Hibernia consortium recently awarded an untendered contract to Saint John's Shipbuilding in New Brunswick. This $35-million contract represents several hundred jobs. This decision is outrageous since the MIL Davie shipyard in Quebec had already bid
on this contract, unlike Saint John's Shipbuilding which never did.
My question is for the minister responsible for regional development in Quebec. How can the minister explain that he did not step in to keep the Hibernia board of directors from awarding without tender a $35-million contract to Saint John's Shipbuilding, without a bid from this company, when MIL Davie had already submitted a bid?
Mil Davie Shipyards
Oral Question Period
11:35 a.m.
Moncton
New Brunswick
Liberal
George S. Rideout Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, as the member knows this matter has been under review by the agency responsible for offshore gas and oil in Newfoundland. The whole subject matter will be studied and a report will be given. We do not want to prejudge what that agency is going to do.
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