Wayne Easter

[Committees Of The House, October 8th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I too was very pleased to be part of the Standing Committee of Fisheries and Oceans. Its 15 meetings in Atlantic Canada and Newfoundland were excellent. We had good discussions and listened loud and clear to what fishermen had to say.

I will admit that we had very good co-operation by all members of the committee in a non-partisan sense and came up with an excellent report. Not all is abed as the member for Burin—St. George's paints it in terms of the minister's response. There was an excellent response to a number of points.

Although the member wants to raise a lot of false flags in the foreign fishing issue, the minister clarified the concerns on foreign fishing. I would like to make some points relative to what the member said about foreign fishing to try to correct the record.

The catches from quotas allocated to foreign fleets in Canadian waters have dropped to less than 2,000 tonnes in recent years. They are down from an average of 350,000 tonnes in the late 1970s and 1980s. The member is shaking his head; he knows that. We still have foreign fishing within our 200 mile zone. A question needs to be asked. Why?

The fact is that this foreign fishing is under bilateral fisheries agreements with those countries that abide by our conservation objectives inside and outside 200 miles. That is an important point. Inside and outside 200 miles.

These foreign allocations do not deprive Canadian fishermen who still leave large portions of their quotas in the water every year. Some of the foreign vessels in two special Atlantic fisheries are chartered by Canadian quota holders. These foreign charters provide jobs for Canadian plant workers and new markets for Canadian companies. It is important to see that Canadians are working through the allocation of these quotas to foreign fishers.

In addition, foreign vessels fishing in Canadian waters are carefully monitored. The member talked a bit about this point. In Canadian waters they must be licensed and they must carry Canadian observers at their expense.

[Committees Of The House, October 8th, 1998]

They were offered to you in camera.

[Committees Of The House, October 8th, 1998]

It will take me all day.

[Committees Of The House, October 8th, 1998]

It is 100%.

[Committees Of The House, October 8th, 1998]

We are dealing with facts, not fiction.

[Committees Of The House, October 6th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I believe my questions are relevant.

Just to review them, why is the member opposite playing games? Is he trying to get in the favour of the leadership of the Reform Party? Why are Canadian fishermen not picking up the quotas that have been offered to them and that foreigners are not utilizing? We are not meeting our full TAC requirement on various species.

Why is that happening? Will he not admit that the observer reports were offered to the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans in camera and that the fisheries committee including members opposite denied that request? Obviously they just wanted to play games.

[Committees Of The House, October 6th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely amazed that the member opposite could have his facts so wrong. He either has not read the response from the minister to the fisheries report or he has not tried to understand it.

I admit that the standing committee on fisheries has done very good work. However, the member opposite is doing fishermen in the country a major disservice when he tries to leave the impression that if foreign fishing could be done away with there would be no problem. He knows very well that foreign fishing today is not the problem that it used to be. Foreign fishing is under control. Canadian fishermen have never picked up the quotas offered to them partly because of cost and partly because the economic returns are not there.

I have a lot of respect for the member opposite. I was very disappointed when he was fired as chief critic for fisheries of the Reform Party because he was doing a good job and not trying to create the rage, myths and perceptions he is trying to create today.

Let me directly ask a question of the member. Is it a fact that he was fired because he was co-operating with the government too much? Is he now trying to get back on the committee by creating these misconceptions and myths to please the leadership of the Reform Party?

[Souris Coast Guard, October 2nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to recognize three Souris, P.E.I coast guard crew members for a job well done.

Around 9.00 a.m. on the morning of September 27, the Souris coast guard station tuned in to a mayday call. Captain Roddie MacLeod, Richard Harris and Leslie Croucher responded immediately to the call and came to the rescue of three Gaspé tuna fishermen and their 45 foot boat.

The three tuna fishermen were found with survival suits on, floating in a life raft and watching their boat sink about 16 kilometres south of East Point. The coast guard crew brought the three fishermen on board the cutter, captured the boat at considerable risk, and towed their boat to safety as heavy rains and winds began to pick up.

I commend the Souris coast guard's Captain Roddie MacLeod, Richard Harris and Leslie Croucher for their timely response and valiant rescue.

[Oceans, September 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the government recognized early in its mandate the importance of oceans. As a result, we introduced into law, effective January 1, 1998, the Oceans Act.

There have been many events taking place across Canada over this summer to celebrate the international year of the oceans. We do have an oceans strategy and we are working on that more thoroughly.

Recently two pilot marine protection projects were established in British Columbia and there are considerations for projects in the Atlantic and the Arctic as well.

[Fisheries, June 12th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious the member opposite has not been following what the government has been doing on a number of fronts as opposed to what has happened in the past when he was a member of the former B.C. government before he became a Reformer. We are taking strong conservation measures. We have learned some lessons from the demise of the Atlantic cod. As the Minister of Veterans Affairs answered earlier in relation to the ongoing TAGS problem, we are looking to address that, to address the structural problem, economic difficulties and community problems.