Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak at second reading of Bill C-48, an act respecting marine conservation areas, and the amendment proposed by the Reform Party. We will not support the bill, and I will explain why.
First, instead of relying on dialogue, as in the case of the Saguenay—St. Lawrence marine park, the federal government wants to create marine conservation areas, regardless of the fact that Quebec has jurisdiction over the protection of its territory and over environmental matters.
Second, the Department of Canadian Heritage is proposing the establishment of a new structure, the marine conservation areas, that will duplicate the marine protected areas of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Environment Canada's protected marine areas.
In short, the federal government, which claims to have met all of Quebec's demands, and which states in its Speech from the Throne that it is putting an end to overlap and to interference in areas of provincial jurisdiction, has now found a way to divide itself into three components and to actually overlap itself, so as to be absolutely certain to meddle, in one way or another, in areas that come under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the other provinces.
One of the conditions essential to the establishment of a marine conservation area is federal ownership of the land where the conservation area will be established. Bill C-48 fails to respect the integrity of the territory of Quebec and the other provinces.
This is another example of interference and duplication. As my colleague from Berthier—Montcalm was saying, the situation is especially complex in Canada, and even more so when bodies of water are involved.
I will tell you a story. A fisherman wants to go fishing on the St. Lawrence River. So far, so good. This fisherman has to ask the provincial government for a fishing licence. He will go fishing in a rowboat he bought in Quebec, on which of course he paid federal and provincial taxes. In order to launch his rowboat, he needs a federal registration.
Before launching his rowboat, he gets ready on the shore of the river. He is on a territory under Quebec jurisdiction since the shores come under provincial jurisdiction. However, the moment he launches his rowboat, he changes jurisdiction since his rowboat is now on water, which comes under federal jurisdiction.
However, for clarity, I must say that the bottom of the river is still under provincial jurisdiction. The fish that swims in the water and that the fisherman will try to catch is under federal jurisdiction. But its friend, the crab, which is crawling on the bottom of the river, is under shared jurisdiction, even though the bottom of the river is still under provincial jurisdiction.
The fish swimming in the water comes under federal jurisdiction. But, once it is caught and lying at the bottom of the rowboat, it comes under provincial jurisdiction. Due attention will then have to be paid to regulations, because there are federal quotas for that kind of fish.
Moreover, if this is commercial fishing, there are federal and provincial laws and regulations with regard to food, the environment, public health, equipment and so on.
As if things were not complicated enough, Bill C-48 creates overlap within the federal administration itself. This makes no sense.
Three federal departments will drag their standards into an area of provincial jurisdiction, creating overlap in an already thoroughly complicated situation. It borders on the absurd.
Through Heritage Canada, the federal government intends to create marine conservation areas. Through the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the federal government has already created marine protection zones. Through Environment Canada, the federal government wants to create marine wildlife preserves. How can anyone make sense of this?
For its part—there is more—Fisheries and Oceans is proposing to set up marine protected areas. Following DFO's consultation meetings on marine protection zones in Quebec in June 1998, federal officials wrote the following in their minutes of these meetings:
There is still a great deal of confusion among stakeholders regarding the various federal programs on protected marine areas (marine protection zones, national marine conservation areas, wildlife marine preserves, etc.). The departments concerned should harmonize their actions and co-operate to create protected marine areas.
This is not the Bloc Quebecois talking; these were the comments of federal officials.
Now, Environment Canada is proposing to establish marine conservation zones, that could also be called natural marine reserves, expanding the notion of the national wildlife sanctuary beyond the territorial sea to the 200-mile limit.
Such overlap and duplication is ridiculous. Who will know what belongs to whom? But we know what this government wants. It wants to get its hands on the St. Lawrence River. This is how it hopes to invade our jurisdiction. This is how it thinks it will bend us to its will, but we are not having any of it.
Yet an agreement could have been reached, as it was in the case of the Saguenay—St. Lawrence marine park. This initiative could have served as a model. In 1997, the governments of Quebec and Canada agreed to pass mirror legislation to create the Saguenay—St. Lawrence marine park. This resulted in the creation of Canada's first marine conservation area.
This first partnership initiative should have served as a model to the federal government for the creation of other marine conservation areas. Rather than demonstrating open-mindedness and co-operation, the federal government is still taking an arrogant, aggressive, invasive approach that creates overlap and will only feed our desire to leave as soon as possible.
Phase III of the St. Lawrence action plan could have served as another model. But the Government of Canada is not happy when everything is running smoothly. They prefer to stir up trouble and sow discord. They do not understand that Quebeckers have had it with their arrogant policies that cost a fortune, and the people will let them know unequivocally in a very short time.
The bill is an intrusion into the jurisdictions of Quebec and those of the other provinces, when they are concerned. Quebec cannot and will not work in this kind of system. We were very open with the federal government in dealing with the Saguenay—St. Lawrence marine park. It is unfortunate that the government has not learned its lesson.