Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise on the motion of the hon. member for Sackville—Eastern Shore:
That, in the opinion of this House, the government should declare an international week of awareness about the benefits of small- scale fishing for the environment and for the sustainability of communities.
I have had the opportunity to travel with the member for Sackville—Eastern Shore to many small communities with the fisheries committee. I firmly believe that fishing, farming and other rural communities are the lifeblood of the nation. We have to do everything we can to ensure their viability.
Declaring a week of awareness is not the answer. At the very end the member opposite dealt with the facts when he said it was nothing more than a symbolic gesture. It has to be much more than that. We on this side of the House believe in taking some action. Symbolism is not enough.
If we are to have an international week of awareness we have to put people on the issue. We have to hire people. We have to put out publications. It takes money and time. We are trying to expend our efforts improving the fisheries rather than that which is typical of the New Democratic Party. It wants to theorize, study and go on for years. We on this side of the House believe in making some hard decisions and taking action. We have begun to see evidence in the last year in terms of improvements. In fact Premier Tobin mentioned that the other day.
Awareness is already taking place and taking place vividly. Last week at the Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters, a national forum held from November 21 to November 23, the minister, elected officials, industry representatives and fish harvesters met to work further on a vision of the fishery which recognizes gear sectors and opens the lines to communication. It was an attempt to work in unison with the industry as a whole. It was a recognition by people practising in the industry of its importance and that there is a future for the fishing industry.
When Premier Tobin spoke—