Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak today on Bill C-98 and in particular the amendment we have called for. The amendment is to put down this bill and refer the contents of it back to the committee. The reason is because this bill once again shows that this government is just doing window dressing on a number of serious issues.
I am going to speak to Bill C-98, an act respecting the oceans. It would be a very welcome bill to help ratify the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea if it were something more than just window dressing.
I will explain what we agree and disagree with in the bill and provide some constructive solutions that we humbly submit the government should pay heed to.
We agree and commend the government in its effort to cost cut by streamlining the coast guard and by enacting the partnership programs which will save the taxpayer money, something we would all welcome. We agree with the intent of the oceans management strategy to co-ordinate the oceans strategy across provincial and federal governments.
However do we need to create another level of bureaucracy to fulfil the oceans management strategy? Should this not be the responsibility of DFO? Why not convene representatives from the provinces and the federal government to develop a concerted strategy that DFO would monitor? Why do we need to create another level of bureaucracy to do it? Why do we need to create another group of people to watch people who watch other people, who watch people watching people do some work? This is "Yes, Minister" at its worst.