Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-98, an act respecting the oceans of Canada, at second reading and to address the amendment before this honourable House.
It is a privilege to support Bill C-98 in principle and to support its objectives and its implementation. The people of Central Nova applaud the due diligence and leadership role the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has played in our country since assuming his responsibilities as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
Thanks to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, our Canadian people have a renewed hope, a new vision for our coastal communities: protection for our fisheries and oceans. Finally, we have a human face of compassion amidst our fisheries crisis in Canada.
On Tuesday the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans addressed this House on the oceans act and its importance to the maritime nation which is Canada. The vision of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is to make Canada a world leader in oceans and marine resource management through this legislation. He enunciated for us the mission which this government has set for itself, to manage Canada's oceans in close co-operation with others so that our oceans are clean, safe, productive and accessible.
In my riding of Central Nova there exists the north shore and the eastern shore of the Atlantic Ocean. My constituents applaud the vision of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans which he boldly pronounced on November 15, 1994 in the document "A Vision for Oceans Management". This document is based on the recommendations of the National Advisory Board on Science and Technology Report on Oceans and Coasts. At that time the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans said: "It has been long recognized for a long time that there is a need for one act to clearly assert Canada's sovereign rights and responsibilities over its oceans and territories".
Our minister of fisheries pointed to the proprietary pride which Canadians have in their oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic. These are fundamental to much of our existence, individually and as a nation. They have provided the means of transportation, trading, communications and subsistence from time immemorial. Generations have depended on our oceans for food, clothing and even medicine.
Canada with its three coasts has the longest coastline in the world and the second largest continental shelf spanning more than six and a half million kilometres. As the Minister of Fisheries and
Oceans pointed out in his vision document, Canada's oceans are equal to half of our territorial land mass and have been a key to our evolution culturally and economically. Fisheries, transportation and shipping, tourism and recreation, offshore oil and gas have all been beacons of hope and economic stability for numerous coastal communities along all three oceans.
In his 1994 vision paper the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans related as well the need to diversify our reliance on the maritime resources in light of the collapse of groundfish stocks along the east coast and in light of ever increasing stress being placed on the maritime habitat by our society. Critical habitat destruction, foreign and domestic overfishing, as well as marine and atmospheric pollution were all cause for concern.
This government recognized that a new oceans management regime was needed, one based on an ecological approach and on the development of an integrated management system for all activities affecting oceans and coastal waters. The time had come. The wake-up alarm had sounded for all Canadians to turn away from the band-aid measures of short term need to a policy which would result in the sustainable use of resources and environmental protection.
Through the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans the Government of Canada identified several key objectives of any new legal instrument:
First, to preserve and protect the oceans' environment, the ecosystems and resources they contain. Second, to establish a framework and guidelines to manage the oceans' resources, both renewable and non-renewable, on an economically sustainable and environmentally acceptable basis. Third, to enhance, focus, co-ordinate and disseminate Canada's scientific, environmental and management information relating to oceans and their resources. Fourth, to assert and enforce Canada's sovereign rights and responsibilities over its ocean resources and areas. Fifth, to establish the legal framework to support the implementation of this oceans management strategy. Sixth, to establish a clearly identifiable lead federal agency accountable for oceans management.
As the minister suggested, this should best be initiated by the development and passage of Canada's oceans act. As the minister pointed out to the House, Canada's oceans policy at present is like a big jigsaw puzzle, the pieces all scattered in front of us waiting for us to fit them all together. It is not easy to visualize the entire picture without seeing the box which the puzzle came in and its cover illustration. However, a great deal of work has gone into visualizing what the whole picture must be and determining a logical pattern for the pieces to be placed together, pieces as diverse as deep ocean research and cold ocean rescues, inspection and protection, emergency responses and sustainability, conservation and commercialization, navigational safety and national security, national goals and regional initiatives, restoration of our marine resources, and job creation.
We all know that it will take many minds to finish the puzzle in time for all Canadians to enjoy the results of the effort. From the outset this has not been the vision of one person or one group of persons imposed upon the rest of us. The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has signalled clearly his openness toward full participation in the process so that all sides of the House, all stakeholders, all organizations, disciplines and sectors of society having an interest in our oceans can contribute.
Consultation has been a hallmark of the government in the carrying out of its responsibilities but the minister has sought more; namely, a partnership for a successful conclusion to this challenge; this beckoning to us from the future generations of Canada.
Through this legislation, Canada will be bringing into its own domestic law provisions for 200 nautical miles from its low water line to which it is already entitled as part of the modern international community.
Canada is taking on its rights and responsibilities as a member of the global community, a community with a growing realization that our actions are all interdependent, whether at the most local community level or at the level of global interaction and co-operation for survival.
The oceans act makes it possible for the federal government to solicit and expand partnerships in the many enterprises involved in scientific research, maritime communications and safety, fisheries conservation, management enforcement, underwater exploration and seabed mining, the understanding and sustainable exploitation of marine plants, the maintenance of trading routes through block ice.
It makes us all working shareholders in the development of a flexible, workable and ecologically sound ocean strategy for today and for the future, one well in keeping with Canada's motto, from sea to sea to sea.
In conclusion, this is a vision of Canada as being much more than the Rockies, the Laurentian Shield and great plains between them, of great cities lining up at our southern borders; it is also a view of myriad port cities and coastal communities, of diverse marine activities extending economic and social benefit to future generations brought to us by the rolling swells and rippled waves of blue beginnings at the edges of our land maps.
The oceans act is a vision of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and of the Government of Canada. However, it is more than that: in its ink and paper, in the millions of electronic impulses and images which have gone into its preparation and discussion and communication from this very Chamber, it represents the aspirations of millions of Canadians.
It is a declaration by a maritime nation that it will continue to shoulder the challenges of the present but that it welcomes the support of all concerned as it navigates into the future.
A special thank you to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans from all Canadians for Bill C-98 and for recognizing the importance of the maritime nation which is Canada.