Mr. Speaker, I exhort members to reject Motions Nos. 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 31 standing in the name of the hon. member for Gaspé. The purpose of these motions is to undermine the Oceans Act, which, as written, is in strict accordance with the codes and customs of international law.
Canada is a nation which has a long maritime history, one which has ranged from quiet diplomacy in the development of international agreements focused on the development of a comprehensive framework for the regulation of all ocean spaces to that of proactive action to protect straddling stocks and highly migratory fish stocks.
The legislation being discussed constitutes a major element of the overall strategy to intensify the Canadian government's efforts toward the conservation, protection and sustainable development of our oceans and their resources.
The first objective of Bill C-26 is to recognize in domestic law Canada's rights and responsibilities as a coastal state as regards maritime zones and to delimit the area over which Canada will exercise its conservation and protection initiatives.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea which came into force on November 14, 1994 provides for the delimitation and establishment of maritime zones under national jurisdiction and identifies the rights of coastal states and of other states within these maritime zones.
The oceans act implements those provisions of the United Nations convention as regards the maritime zones. This is not the legislation by which Canada will ratify the United Nations convention. Members will recall that in the February speech from the throne the government indicated its intention to table enabling legislation allowing Canada to ratify the convention. This legislation will be presented to Parliament at a later date.
The clauses which the Bloc Quebecois wishes to amend recognize and delineate Canada's maritime zones seaward of the internal waters of Canada as codified under the United Nations convention, otherwise known as UNCLOS.
The amendments suggested by the Bloc in this group of motions would change all of this, and I refer again to what I said about the need for respect for juridical roles and missions. The Bloc amendments would intentionally have Canada contravene this international convention which we as a nation worked very hard to see established.
Motion No. 7 as proposed is unnecessary and misleading. It refers to clause 5 which describes how baselines are drawn in accordance with UNCLOS. The motion indicates, if I may say so, a confusion between the determination of internal domestic boundaries with the determination of the international boundaries.
The concept of baselines is not used in international law or in Bill C-26 to determine the internal boundaries of a nation. Rather the baselines serve as reference lines from which the nation defines its national maritime boundaries according to international law. These amendments, as proposed, therefore, are misleading. They do nothing to improve the bill, rather they detract from its clarity and accuracy.
Bloc Motions Nos. 11, 12 and 13 apply to Canada's exclusive economic zone and seek to imply that this area and its seabed could be contained in the territory of a province. The exclusive economic zone is delineated to its inner margin by the outer edge of the territorial sea and stretches out to 200 nautical miles from the baseline or the coastline. By definition under international law, the exclusive economic zone is well beyond provincial waters yet the Bloc amendments would have us alter this important legislation to suggest otherwise.
Bloc Motions Nos. 15 and 16 regarding the continental shelf make the same erroneous implications, namely that the continental shelf could be within the boundary of a province. The continental shelf is well beyond provincial boundaries. To amend this bill as proposed by the Bloc would make Canada's new ocean statute contravene international law. This is neither proper nor legally correct.
Motion No. 31 proposed by the Bloc seeks to alter clause 28 which defines the area of application of the oceans management strategy and makes it clear that oceans are defined to include estuary and coastal offshore waters. This clause, as it is, states that part II of the act, the part entitled "The Oceans Management Strategy" does not apply to lakes and rivers. This makes sense. An ocean management strategy does apply to lakes and rivers.
The Bloc motion attempts to exclude application of a strategy to estuaries. This does not make sense as the interface between the fresh and saltwater estuaries form a significant component of ocean ecosystems, as well as the social economic well-being of Canadians. To include these areas in the ocean management strategy would effectively ignore the principles of ecosystems management set out in this act.
I therefore urge the members of this House to reject the motions presented by the Bloc pertaining to the maritime zones of Canada and to the oceans management strategy. To accept them would contravene international law. It would also limit the effectiveness of our efforts to conserve and protect the ocean ecosystems.