Mr. Speaker, three weeks ago on Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia I attended a funeral of a 26 year old fisherman who committed suicide because he could not make a living from the fisheries sufficient to support his family.
This is the fifth suicide in southwest Nova in the last six months and it coincides with a rash of suicides in small coastal communities on Vancouver Island. The government and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have been warned repeatedly that their policies of individual transferable quotas and corporate concentration of the resource have to be addressed.
If the destructive policies are not modified the hope and dignity of coastal communities, fishermen and plant workers will be lost.
When will the government stop punishing these people and begin to listen to their concerns? The suicide note of the latest victim summarizes the situation many fishermen find themselves in today. It simply said that if the government would not allow him to provide for his children maybe God can.