Mr. Speaker, over two months ago I rose in the House to ask a question of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans concerning the devastating plight of B.C. fishers and coastal communities.
I asked the minister what leadership he was prepared to show to assist fishers who lost their jobs, their livelihoods and in many cases their hope as a result of the impact of the Mifflin plan.
At that time over two months ago the minister said that the member should be patient. The patience of British Columbians has run out. The hopes of British Columbians, particularly in coastal communities and particularly fishers, are fast running out.
Just this week we heard from the daughter of one of those fishers. She is a 13 year old girl named Julie Nygren whose father and mother have been involved in fishing for many years. She says:
It's hard to understand why our government won't stand up to the Americans and tell them it isn't fair to take our salmon.
Referring to the minister she says:
It seems that he isn't doing enough for B.C., or for Canada. He's almost on the American side.
I wonder where the minister is. He is from British Columbia, yet time and time again when it comes to speaking out for British Columbia too often he is attacking British Columbia, attacking the premier of British Columbia, and speaking up for the United States.
The Community Fisheries Development Centre has put a proposal before the government, before the Minister of Human Resources Development and the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, urging an active labour market transition program to put the people who have lost their jobs as a result of the Mifflin plan back to work. It is not a TAGS program. It is an active labour market program to find training certification programs to get them involved in restoring habitat, for example.
Recently the federal auditor general pointed out that the federal fisheries department had been very lax in standing up for fisheries habitat. Instead of finger pointing I urge the government to come up with a program that gets the scientists to work together collaboratively, federally and provincially, to restore habitat and put people back to work.
I also appeal to the federal Liberal government, in addition to supporting the $375 million transition program, to take a strong and constructive stand on the ongoing concern around the salmon treaty. I appeal to the government to join the British Columbia lawsuit. B.C. fisheries minister Corky Evans has appealed to the federal government to stand up, get involved and speak out on behalf of the people of British Columbia.
I note that the Government of Canada joined a lawsuit earlier on behalf of United States tribes. I wonder why it is that it is not prepared to do the same thing with respect to the people of British Columbia.
Finally, I appeal to the Government of Canada to speak out against the proposed seizure of fish boats by the Alaskans and to recognize that it would be a very destructive step at this very sensitive time when the eminent persons, Mr. Ruckelshaus and Mr. Strangway, are attempting to arrive at a solution.
The stakeholder process has failed. What we need is political leadership at the highest possible level: the prime minister's office, the minister's office and the office of the president of the United States. We need strong transition programs but we also need a government that is prepared to stand up to ensure that the principles of the salmon treaty, particularly the equity principle, is respected and that B.C. coastal communities and fishers are able to live with dignity.