Mr. Speaker, the situation today in the fishing sector is the result of a fundamental choice made by “Canada's economic thinkers”, a few years ago. Whether it be information on employment insurance reform or the government's budget choices, there is an underlying force encouraging people to move where there are jobs.
The decision was made in Canada to no longer guarantee the future of communities. Instead, the people in the communities would decide to go wherever the market required, regardless of their skills, expertise or the fact that they had raised families in a given community. This basic choice underlies a number of government policies. Today, several thousand people are living with the very negative effects of this choice.
The member gave the agricultural sector as an example, but the same situation exists in the fishing industry. I think it is in this industry that we see more of the effect of this basic choice, where a few years ago they were saying “the future is the law of the market, there is no need to guarantee the future of small communities. We just have to move the people”.
The first experiments in this regard were carried out in the Gaspé peninsula. You will remember that some 20, nearly 30, years ago, the people who lived in the area were moved so Forillon Park, a federal conservation park, could be established. The people living there were moved out and into low cost housing outside the park. At the same time, people from outside were hired to work in the park.
This is the sort of experience that resulted from a principle I consider unacceptable, one that should be changed. We in Canada must debate the matter of priorities to make sure that people can live in their community—rural or urban—and that we never again go through experiences like those of today in the fishing industry.