Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, everybody.
By way of a further introduction, the Union of Environment Workers is a component union of PSAC, the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
By way of opening remarks, I'm going to read from an earlier touchstone document of ours that should complement our submission that's already been sent in.
Canada's fisheries and oceans sector makes a number of important contributions to Canadian life. It represents an important economic engine, employing hundreds and thousands of Canadians and injecting billions of dollars into the national economy. Fisheries and fish stocks are a significant part of our culture of national heritage. They continue to be the backbone of sustainable communities throughout the country. The marine biological abundance of British Columbia--9,600 salmon stocks--sustained some of North America's most complex aboriginal societies for thousands of years.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada plays a number of crucial roles in Canada's fisheries and oceans: rebuilding, conserving, and managing our fisheries resources and habitats on a sustainable level, building on our scientific understanding of oceans and waterways, but also sustaining the hundreds of coastal communities where fishing is the only available source of employment, where only a very few economic alternatives exist.
Fishery resources are a common public asset belonging to all Canadians. Public opinion polls consistently show that the great majority of Canadians care about how the fishery is managed. There is a great deal of pressure from large corporations to privatize the fisheries. Taxpayers, in particular, should be wary of the claims of proponents of privatized fisheries. In the end, it is the taxpayer who foots the bill when coastal communities lose access to the fishery and economic benefits from the resource. The closure of the east coast cod fishery, for example, cost $3 billion initially in payments, and tax revenue and income losses continue.
Of the world's 200 major fisheries, two-thirds are in decline and threatened. In Canada we only have to look at the east coast cod fishery to see the disastrous situation facing Canada's fisheries. Fisheries across the countries are in steep decline, including salmon, herring, halibut, scallops, shrimp, and crab stocks, which are threatened. Tragically, Fisheries and Oceans Canada's ability to perform its mandate has been diminished and compromised over the years.
There is a growing concern among DFO employees about the inability to meet their legal requirements under the Fisheries Act and other attendant legislation, such as the recently enacted SARA, Species at Risk Act. The government's capacity to conserve and scientifically manage the salmon resource continues to be eroded by inadequate funding, according to the report of the Pacific Fisheries Conservation Resource Council. The 2005 report from the Senate Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans stated as their number one recommendation that “The Government of Canada provide the Department of Fisheries and Oceans with adequate funding in order to fulfill its Fisheries mandate.”
It's not too late to save our fisheries. With sound management based on good science, with conservation as the priority, we can restore our fish stocks to healthy sustainable levels. The fish stocks of Canada belong to all Canadians. They are a public resource and require deft management by a skilled and dedicated public service. To achieve this goal for the benefit of all Canadians, we need to pressure the government to reinvest tax dollars in the department's budget.
Thank you.