Mr. Speaker, a lot has been said tonight but we need to take a look at the motion itself and pull things into perspective. The motion reads:
That this House take note of the difficulties in Canadian fisheries, especially as complicated by the Queen and Marshall case and its implications for both aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples and for the future management of natural resources.
Some have taken sides on that motion tonight. I want to specifically say that I am not taking sides. We have to recognize the decision and try to figure out a strategy as a government and as members of the parliament of Canada on how we implement that decision in a fair and reasonable way and ensure that all those players who fish and make their livelihoods at other natural resources can do so in a way that conserves the stocks and live in reasonable prosperity.
As the motion says, we are indeed faced with a serious crisis. Some members have mentioned this evening that this crisis seems to be escalating with the potential collapse of the voluntary moratorium negotiated by the minister last Sunday. I have talked to the minister a number of times about the issue. I know he had hoped that goodwill and tolerance would prevail. Over the weekend the minister had gone a long way to achieving a satisfactory interim solution.
Given the news we heard in the media tonight that may have broken down. I would appeal and I hope others would join me in appealing to the Mi'kmaq chiefs and others in those communities to let the agreement of last Sunday stand. What we really need is peace in the water and a timeframe in which to institute a regulatory plan to manage the fishery situation in a reasonable way.
The seriousness of the situation is perhaps outlined best by a constituent of mine, Barry Murray, who is a fisherman in the Malpeque Bay area. He wrote to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. I will quote sections from his letter because it outlines the seriousness. He wrote:
There are individuals with strong feelings on both sides of this argument, and these personalities are at a heightened state of volatility that will take very few more sparks to ignite violence. Once started, this slippery slope may quite possibly devastate both communities. I am not trying to exaggerate.
There is potential for a lobster stock crisis and community unrest that would rival the cod crisis of the early eighties.
He closed by saying:
Mr. Minister, please close these out of control aboriginal fisheries for conservation reasons until such a time that an agreement can be put in place that will amply protect the stocks and protect our fishing communities.
Mr. Murray outlines the serious volatility and the serious situation in terms of the lobster fish stocks in Malpeque Bay, the area he knows best.
I do not mind admitting I am disappointed that the supreme court did not grant a timeframe. I do not know why, whether it is the responsibility of justice lawyers or the supreme court, but I am disappointed that the supreme court did not grant a timeframe within which to institute the regulatory plan to address the treaty rights.
It is important for us to look at the facts tonight. We are hearing all kinds of things, and people are basing their interpretations of what the supreme court said on the media instead of on reading the judgment.
What did the decision say? The supreme court found that Donald Marshall had a treaty right to fish for and to sell eels, which extended beyond the already established right of aboriginal people to fish for food and ceremonial purposes.
The court also stated that this right to sell fish would be carried out within certain limits. Section 58 of the decision states:
What is contemplated is not a right to trade generally for economic gain but rather a right to trade for necessaries. The treaty right is a regulated right and can be contained by regulation within its proper limits.
The court indicated that necessaries had been defined as moderate livelihood which according to the court in section 59 includes “such basics as food, clothing and housing supplemented by a few amenities but not the accumulation of wealth. It addresses day to day needs”.
Section 61 of the decision places the limitations of the Marshall decision within context. According to this section it is very important that “catch limits that could reasonably be expected to produce a moderate livelihood for individual Mi'kmaq families at present day standards can be established by regulation and enforced without violating the treaty right. In that case regulations would accommodate the treaty right”.
That is what the decision states. Members opposite have accused the minister and the government of not acting on the issue. The fact is that the government had been proactive. The aboriginal fishing strategy has been in place since 1992. Because of the Sparrow decision it was moving along the line and doing what the supreme court now recognizes as a right.
The aboriginal fishing strategy was the government's response to the Sparrow decision. Through the aboriginal fishing strategy the Government of Canada and DFO were buying licenses from retiring fishermen and turning them over to the aboriginal community so it could have a livelihood on the water as the supreme court said is its right. Thirty-two million dollars annually has been spent on the aboriginal fishing strategy. The member from Delta can like it or lump it. Those are the facts.
The court did affirm certain rights of the Mi'kmaq that originated with the treaties extending back to 1760. What is at issue here is not the ruling but how to respond in a balanced way to the aboriginal community and the non-aboriginal community so they can survive and prosper together.
I applaud the minister for his efforts through dialogue and co-operation. However, if things might be happening tonight and the fishing effort is above the amount anticipated when the minister made his decision last Sunday, I believe he should consider using his authority under section 43 of the Fisheries Act in the interest of conservation. At the moment the impact of even a small fishing effort on lobsters could be serious.
Let us we look at what has been happening with the government over the last number of years. We could go back to a release by the former minister of fisheries on April 22, 1998. It outlines that the November 1995 report of the Fisheries Resources Conservation Council advised that lobster fishermen were “taking too much and leaving too little”.
As a result of the FRCC report and as the minister of the day decided that we needed to double lobster egg production in the lobster fishing areas, new conservation measures were instituted. Escape mechanisms were put on traps. Lobster tariffs and sizes were increased. V-notching was considered. Quite a number of management measures were imposed upon the industry. It is serious.
I maintain that if there is any lobster fishing over and above what the minister anticipated on his agreement reached last Sunday, then he has the authority to act under section 43 of the Fisheries Act. He should take that authority and institute that action to prevent jeopardizing the future of the lobster fishery.