Wayne Easter

[Committees of the House, May 27th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.

In accordance with its order of reference from the House on February 28, 2002, your committee has considered votes 1, 5 and 10 under Fisheries and Oceans in the main estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003, and reports the same less the amounts voted in interim supply.

[Responsible Fishing Awards, May 1st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge and congratulate the winners of the Roméo-LeBlanc National Awards for Responsible Fishing.

This award recognizes four Canadian fishermen who have contributed to the development and promotion of responsible fishing practices from coast to coast to coast. It is individual fishermen who are most aware of the need to manage fisheries in a responsible manner. This award gives them the recognition they deserve.

The 2002 recipients are: Allen Gordon, Arctic laureate; Gary McLeod, Atlantic laureate; Milford Purdy, freshwater laureate; and Jake Fraser, Pacific laureate and recipient of the Roméo-LeBlanc Medal. These fishermen, finding better innovative methods of fishing, are role models for a younger generation who will be looking to Canada's great ocean resources for their future.

[Marion Fletcher, April 23rd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I express my congratulations to Marion Fletcher of Kelvington, Saskatchewan upon receiving the National Farmers Union grassroots leadership citation award. The award presented this past Sunday was for her work as a proud and dedicated member of the farm community striving to improve economic and social policies for people.

I have known Marion for many years and have always valued her loyalty and generosity. She challenges individuals and governments to do better. Marion has an ability to get people involved in working on behalf of farm families and farming communities. Marion's two passions beyond her family have been the NFU and the NDP, and she has done justice to both.

The grassroots leadership award recognizes the efforts of individuals who make a difference. I congratulate Marion for making a difference and contributing to a better life for our farmers and farm families.

[Trade, April 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, Mexico is Canada's most important trading partner in Latin America. In fact, last year it was our second most important export market.

However Mexico does not always abide by fair trade. Since the fall of 2000 it has shut out seed potatoes from P.E.I. and New Brunswick on extremely weak grounds.

What action is the minister taking to strengthen our relationship with our NAFTA partner to ensure that it trades fairly and by the rules?

[Agriculture, April 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Secretary of State for Rural Development. Statistics Canada studies now show that employment in rural areas has declined rapidly in the last three years, specifically in agriculture. In fact, it has been the largest decline in 35 years.

The secretary has just attended a conference in Charlottetown with rural people from all across Canada who had a lot of ideas on encouraging and strengthening the economies in rural Canada. Could the secretary inform the House what action he plans to make rural Canada's a more vigorous and prosperous economy?

[Housing, April 16th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform colleagues that April is New Homes Month. This is an annual event sponsored by the Canadian Home Builders' Association to profile building industry professionals, their products and services.

It is also an occasion to provide consumers with home buying information. As Canada's national housing agency Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is the most reliable and objective source of housing information in Canada.

CMHC plays a key role in helping many Canadians make informed housing choices. Products such as the Homebuying Step-by-Step Guide , Before you Renovate and the About Your House series provides Canadians with a wealth of information to help them sort through the many choices and decisions involved in buying, renovating and maintaining their homes.

[Harry MacLauchlan, April 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, all Prince Edward Islanders mourn the loss of one of our most honoured sons, Harry MacLauchlan, who passed away on March 28.

Harry was a driving force in the economy, being the inspiration and founder behind many leading island businesses. Hundreds of islanders have worked for his companies over the years and they were always treated with respect and dignity, often approached with his trademark line “It's a great day”.

His business efforts were honoured by his induction into the Business Hall of Fame, but Harry was much more than a businessman. He was committed to the island community through volunteer work, the Queen Elizabeth hospital foundation, amateur sports and recreation, and tourism initiatives.

His love of his family was evident always. Harry MacLauchlan personified all that is best in people: generosity, hard work, and deep affection for the well-being of others. His life's work is over but his legacy will continue.

[Fisheries, March 21st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Burin--St. George's.

I am pleased to take part in this important debate proposed by the member for St. John's West. The member for Gander--Grand Falls has talked about this issue for as long as I have known him and I have been in the House eight years now. Other members from Newfoundland and Labrador have spoken about this issue consistently, including the member for Burin--St. George's and the member for Labrador. They have expressed to the House the concerns of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians about the serious issue of overfishing off the Grand Banks.

Yes, these members have brought forward the issue but I can tell everyone that there is nothing like being in Newfoundland and Labrador as we were last week to hear the people directly, to feel the emotion, to sense the frustration, to see the tears in some cases and to almost touch the anger over this issue in which people see their livelihoods being illegally taken away. They have every right to request directly that parliament and this nation as a whole stand behind them in terms of dealing with that question.

Last Friday and Saturday, March 15 and 16, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans had the privilege of holding hearings on this very issue in St. John's. We heard the concerns in spades. I will discuss some of those concerns in a moment.

I want to express first the reason that we were there. Members of our committee, including members from their home ports and coastal communities and members in the House, brought forward to our committee the concern of foreign overfishing. We set up a hearing on the point of extending jurisdiction over the nose and tail of the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap. We know that is a hard sell. We know that. We are willing to look at other alternatives, whether it is coastal management or whatever it may be. We are willing to look at all the options. I will say clearly however that based on what we heard in Newfoundland and Labrador this issue absolutely must be dealt with.

Let me turn for a moment to some of the points brought forward by some of the speakers we heard from while we were in St. John's, although they said it better than I. Mr. Alastair O'Reilly, who is with the Fisheries Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, talked about how illegal fishing has increased recently compared to what it was. He stated:

And what we saw in 1995 was truly extraordinary for Canada to have taken the action it did against the Estai.

That is the Spanish vessel.

And this really brought, I think, a level of consciousness among the various member countries of NAFO to realize that we are just not going to take this kind of behaviour. And that held for the first two or three or four years. But it's begun to erode rapidly and there are not consequences, thus far.

That is until today. The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans stood in the House today. He has taken some action. I expect and hope the House demands that all departments, including the Prime Minister's Office, stand with the minister and take further action if it is necessary to do so.

Mr. O'Reilly talked about consequences. Let us look at what has happened over time.

Before 1995, prior to the Estai being seized and the strong action of then minister Tobin, on the Grand Banks outside the 200 mile limit there were 26,000 fishing days a year by 71 vessels. After 1995 when the issue was addressed concisely and aggressively by the nation, those fishing days dropped to 6,000. In 2001 illegal fishing was gradually creeping up again. It is up to 10,000 fishing days.

I say to all Canadians that that is what happens when the nation does not take a strong stand and stand by it as we did in 1995.

Foreign overfishing and illegal harvesting in 2001 included illegal harvests of 10,000 tonnes of species that were under moratorium and quota overruns of 3,100 tonnes of turbot. That cannot be allowed.

I want to point out another point that Mr. O'Reilly made. In response to a question he said:

Maybe you're right, it's much broader than fisheries. But, we feel that even within Foreign Affairs and International Trade, fisheries is an extremely low priority...It's galling how ineffective we are in moving some of those issues forward...Canada was able to be stopped by bureaucrats, not let alone member countries. It's appalling how ineffective we are on that front.

What that points out to me is that we have not worked in a co-ordinated approach up to now. I understand that lawyers in foreign affairs get into legalese, but this issue is more than legalese. It is about the sovereignty of a nation and sometimes we have to stretch that legalese to make our point. That is what has to be done internationally.

When Earl McCurdy, the president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union in Newfoundland, was before us, he said that we had to challenge Canada's sovereignty as a coastal state. He was an adviser at NAFO. He said that the Canadian presentation documented a number of violations and he believed this fall's meeting would be critical. He talked about using Bill C-29 and said that we might be able to use that piece of legislation to shut off Canadian ports. He talked about well documented violations and the importance of the American Plaice to our fisheries. He said that we needed a strong national campaign to protect our straddling stocks.

I do want to correct the member for Sackville--Musquodoboit Valley--Eastern Shore on one remark he made earlier about Pat Chamut, assistant deputy minister, being before the committee. I am not one for giving compliments to the bureaucracy very often, but when he was before the committee he made a great presentation. He stood strong at the NAFO meetings and presented to us the outcomes of a balanced assessment of the NAFO meeting showing some positive results.

The positive outcomes of that meeting were an increase in the mesh size for the skate fishery, an adoption of a new compliance review process, improved reporting requirements for 3L shrimp, a working group of NAFO management of oceanic redfish and adherence to scientific advice for all stocks except Greenland halibut.

He went on to say, and he was very forceful in this, that the objectives not met were the rejection of Greenland halibut depth restriction and an adoption of a 10% increase on the Greenland halibut TAC. He admits that we failed to gain those points.

Mr. Chamut has very clearly said that NAFO, although it is an important organization, is not working as it should. We are saying, and I am saying on behalf of the fisheries committee and those who I represent, that it is will take strong action for NAFO to understand that it must come back to abiding by the rules that it established itself.

Let me close with this. In May 1994 the Canadian parliament adopted Bill C-29 and its implementing regulations that prohibited stateless vessels and those flying the flags of states listed in the regulations from fishing prescribed straddling stocks in contravention of NAFO. This continues to provide the legislative framework for Canada to arrest ships that are fishing contrary to the NAFO conservation framework.

Following the passage of that new legislation, those vessels stopped fishing for straddling stocks and left the area. That shows me, and I think shows the nation, that when this country stands together and takes the strong aggressive action, then we can force those international countries that are fishing illegally and basically stealing fish stocks from Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who are Canadians. It is time the nation stood behind them.

We must stand together to conserve that fishery for the future. It will take strong action by all departments, right up to the Prime Minister's office to get this job done.

[Fisheries, March 21st, 2002]

That is what you are doing. You are reacting to a good proposal by the minister.

[Fisheries, March 21st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans just returned from holding hearings into foreign fishing violations just outside our 200 mile limit.

Witnesses were very forceful. In fact some were near tears in telling us directly that Canada must take action against these violations by NAFO member countries. In 2001 there has been a documented illegal harvest of greater than 10,000 tonnes of species under moratorium.

This strikes at the heart of this country's protecting its fish stocks. What is the minister willing to do to protect our fish?