House of Commons Hansard #68 of the 37th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was fish.

Topics

FisheriesGovernment Orders

10:45 p.m.

Liberal

Larry Bagnell Liberal Yukon, YT

Mr. Chairman, the point is that they do settle it in such a way that the mining can continue and the fish can continue to exist and to thrive as they do presently.

Everyone likes to fish in Yukon. The Yukon is known for its beauty. I have letters from people who want to preserve that beauty. We all want to preserve that and continue to do so. There are different ways to do this, but it has to be done in such a way that there can be certainty, because placer mining has huge investments in equipment. It is a very fine, narrow economic base, and there are only a couple of months in the summer when this can be done. There are all the mortgage payments in this industry so there has to be certainty in decision making and a fair process.

Right now it is done by a water board. A number of people have input into that process, and there can be appeals. Conservationists, placer miners and other people can appear and provide their opinions on these decisions. Decisions have to be made in a fair and consistent manner and with common sense.

There was a consultation across the entire Yukon over the last couple of years on how this might be done. I went to some of these meetings across Yukon. They passionately reflected, by and large, what I have just said. Every Yukoner had a chance to write in and have input. Recommendations came out of that process. The recommendations that have been brought forward by the people of Yukon for the people of Yukon would certainly be one way of solving this problem. The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is now in negotiations with the Klondike Placer Miners' Association and its president, Tara Christie, and I hope they come to a resolution of the situation.

FisheriesGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

NDP

Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore, NS

Mr. Chairman, I am not sure if I am the only other person who has had the opportunity to live in Yukon. I know that the hon. member is very passionate about that area and anybody who has lived there and has read the poems of Robert Service knows exactly how he feels.

I have seen placer mining up there as well. I also did an extensive amount of fishing when I lived up there. One of the concerns is about how and why DFO arrived at this particular decision. We know there were consultations ongoing. We know that many of the people who have written, not only myself, but the hon. member as well, raised concerns about the placer miners, especially in these communities, concerns that their side was not taken, that another side was taken, that there was too much of conservation, and that too many decisions were taken without the consultative process in order for that decision to be made.

In view of his conversations with the fisheries minister, could the hon. member explain to the House how the minister came to the decision to do that? Was the decision based on a regional kind of atmosphere or was the decision made here in Ottawa? I would like him to elaborate a bit more about that discussion.

FisheriesGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

The Deputy Chairman

The hon. member for Yukon will have the last word of the evening.

FisheriesGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Liberal

Larry Bagnell Liberal Yukon, YT

Mr. Chairman, I hope I have the last word on this issue. I have no idea how decisions are made inside the Department of Fisheries or by the minister. There is some semblance, though, of things I have heard subsequent to the time that this issue started. This is a different process. The placer authorizations is under section 35, and that may be a reason for changing it. I would say the exact opposite. This is a unique industry, as I have said. It is cleaner than many of the other industries that have special individual authorization or go under regulations, so why not have a system that actually allows the mining to exist and allows for several mines to exist on the same stream, the same watershed, and to be processed effectively?

In conclusion, if I could just have one more minute, I would like to thank all the placer miners, especially in Yukon, and all other Yukoners who have written to me in the most passionate terms about what is in their souls and about their livelihood and what they have invested their lives in. Sometimes the letters are from families over generations. I think that this Parliament represents justice, fairness and democracy, and that will ultimately prevail.

FisheriesGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

The Deputy Chairman

It being 10:50 p.m, pursuant to order made on Monday, February 24, the committee will rise and I will leave the Chair.

FisheriesGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bélair)

The House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 10:50 p.m.)