Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak tonight on an issue of grave importance to my riding of Pictou—Antigonish—Guysborough and, in particular, Guysborough county.
It is an issue that I have vigorously pursued with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans through personal interventions, correspondence and, as well, through statements and questions in this House.
The issue is this Liberal government's continued refusal to work with the fishery workers in communities such as Canso and Mulgrave to ensure that these communities remain economically viable.
Although the government's treatment of Mulgrave and ACS Trading has been extremely disgraceful, I am going to focus my comments tonight on the community of Canso and, in particular, on the efforts of the Canso Trawlermen's Co-op which has been championed by Pat Fougere.
This is an extremely timely adjournment debate because this coming Saturday there is a large public meeting taking place in Canso on the future of the fishery in that community.
Canso is the birthplace of the modern era fishing industry. I say this out of respect for our First Nations fishermen. Since 1504 when Basque sailors first set up camp on Nova Scotia's shores, Canso has been known as the hub of the commercial fishery.
In more recent years, despite the overall downturn trend in the Atlantic fishery, the Seafreez company has been operating a processing plant in Canso in which a number of species are utilized.
I am pleased to highlight that it was through the efforts of former Progressive Conservative governments, both federally and provincially, that Seafreez commenced operations in Canso.
To cut right to the chase, the Canso Trawlermen's Co-op has developed a proposal in conjunction with Seafreez to catch an additional 2,200 tonnes of northern shrimp out of the additional 7,000 that the Government of Canada was planning to allocate this spring.
The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans denied the application from Canso, as he did for three similar applications from Nova Scotia ridings, including the riding of Bras d'Or. The minister's trite answer at that time was “The fish come first”.
While nobody would take away from the importance of conservation, least of all the Canso Trawlermen's Co-op, the fact is that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans decided to allocate every single additional tonne of northern shrimp quota to Newfoundland and Labrador, pitting two regions in the country against one another.
Nothing was given to Nova Scotia. Nothing was given to a community that has nearly 500 years of tradition at stake within the fisheries. So much for Liberal fisheries policy that is based on fairness and equity.
I do not know whether fish actually come first with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, but I do know who comes last with this minister and that is the people of Nova Scotia and, most notably, those of Canso.
The Canso Trawlermen's Co-op has made more than 50 requests to meet personally with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. They want to advance their cause. They want to put a face to the disastrous consequences of the minister's decision. They even travelled all the way from Canso to Ottawa so they would have a chance to meet with the minister, but did not get a chance to meet with him.
Did he have the courage to meet with them face to face? No. I have repeatedly urged the minister to meet with them in Canso and again his answer has been no. Even the premier of Nova Scotia, a former colleague of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, has asked the minister to meet with the co-op. Again his answer was no.
It is further proof that the current premier of Nova Scotia has no clout with his former Liberal friends and is therefore of no great use or advantage to Nova Scotia.
Who does the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans think he is when he will not show the decency to meet with hard-working people like those from Canso? Pat Fougere of the Canso Trawlermen's Co-op said that the minister demonstrated complete disrespect for the area's fishermen and that he must take responsibility for the slow death of the fishing community in Canso.
Pat Fougere is absolutely right.
As I said, there will be a meeting in Canso on November 1. Members of the provincial government, representatives of DFO and other community leaders will be present. I urge and challenge the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to have the courage and the guts to show up at that meeting and tell these people to their faces what their future will be if his decisions are not changed in the near future.