Mr. Speaker, the farmland in the Fraser Valley has remained arable land because of the hundreds of kilometres of drainage ditches that criss-cross the area. For generations now, provincial and municipal authorities have routinely cleaned these waterways of silt and debris so that flooding is reduced and disruptions to streams and habitat is kept to a minimum.
But now the Department of Fisheries and Oceans seems intent on wreaking chaos on our region. DFO is now describing routine ditch maintenance as harmful alteration of fish habitat and has suddenly demanded compensation from farmers and the municipality. It wants a professional review every time a waterway is cleaned and describes even seasonal streams as fish bearing waters.
In short, DFO is risking the lives and livelihood of people in our region, risking the habitat of the very fish it is supposed to be protecting and doing it in a way that makes timely co-operation impossible.
In my riding of Fraser Valley, the riding of Langley—Abbotsford and in Nanaimo—Cowichan, it is time for the fisheries minister to step in and direct his officials to stop confronting and start working and consulting with the farmers, mayors, councils and others living in these areas.