House of Commons Hansard #120 of the 36th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was pornography.
Alexa McDonough NDP Halifax, NS
Mr. Speaker, the government knows that Burnt Church is more than just a fishery issue.
Bob Rae has indicated publicly that he is prepared to resume mediation if the parties call upon him to do that. He believes that there is potential for a negotiated result.
I would like to direct my question again to the Deputy Prime Minister. Will the government make the first move and ask Mr. Rae to continue working with the parties to achieve a peaceful resolution?
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, in the long term the real resolution to this is to negotiate an agreement. There are many long term issues that have to be resolved and we are always open to dialogue.
All parties have to accept that there is room for negotiations. Certainly we are always open to dialogue. At the end of the day, the only way this will be resolved is through negotiation and dialogue. Our door is open and we are open to ways we can do that.
Joe Clark Progressive Conservative Kings—Hants, NS
Mr. Speaker, my question is also for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. I am very encouraged by his reference to dialogue and a willingness to dialogue.
I just got off the phone with Chief Wilbur Dedeam of the reserve who said that he and his band would welcome a meeting with the minister but that there has not been a face to face meeting between the minister and the band council. He told me minutes ago that he and his council would very much welcome the opportunity to meet face to face with the minister.
I ask the minister if, in the interest of maintaining calm in the area, he would agree now to respond to that opening by the Burnt Church Band?
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, earlier this year I did meet with the chief and his band council members. At that time I urged him to come to the negotiating table and meet with our federal representatives. They were not willing to do that.
Right now in the Miramichi there are conservation threats. The scientists say that there is a threat to the lobster fishery if the fishing effort continues. I would ask that Chief Dedeam and his first nations band, because they believe in conservation, immediately remove all the traps so we can protect the resource. As long as there is illegal—
FisheriesOral Question Period
The Speaker
The right hon. leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.
Joe Clark Progressive Conservative Kings—Hants, NS
Mr. Speaker, I cannot understand why the minister wants to do this at long distance. He has a crisis that is looming. It is a crisis that could have very serious consequences. He has a chief and band council who are prepared to meet with him right now, today, tomorrow, this weekend.
Why will he not go to Burnt Church and intervene immediately at the highest level to meet with the chief and band council and perhaps with others who are interested in this issue?
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, every effort has been made to get a resolution on this. I have met with the chief and band members. My deputy minister has met with the chief and band members. Mr. Bob Rae has been down there. Our federal representative was involved.
At this time the Miramichi Bay is closed to all fishing because of the threat to the resource.
I am always open to dialogue. Our door is always open. However, we cannot dialogue when people are involved in illegal and unauthorized fishing. If they want to dialogue, they have to stop the illegal and unauthorized fishing.
John Cummins Reform Delta—South Richmond, BC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the minister issued the ultimatum that the traps were to be out of the water at 11 o'clock this morning. It is now past 11 o'clock at Burnt Church. Are the traps out of the water?
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, I had urged the first nation band of Burnt Church to immediately remove their traps to protect the resource. Of course we will take enforcement action as we did last night. Our enforcement staff did remove more than 100 traps last night. If those traps are not removed, we will ensure that we enforce and carry out the law of the land both on the water and on the land to protect the resource for all Canadians.
John Cummins Reform Delta—South Richmond, BC
Mr. Speaker, 100 traps out of 3,500. Freeze up is coming and so is Christmas.
The minister said that he would not negotiate until traps were out of the water and he did. He set a 40 trap limit and he ignored it. He set a 40,000 pound catch limit. He ignored that. He claims and expresses a commitment to conservation. He ignores that. Now he has set a 24 hour limit and he ignores that.
I want the fisheries minister to level with us and tell us why the traps are not out of the water.
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, as usual the member has his numbers all wrong. There are not 3,000 traps in there. There are less than 1,700 traps in the water according to our estimates.
Enforcement action is taken both on the water and on the land. If the traps are not removed, we will have to take enforcement action. I have said that will continue. This will be enforcement action both on the water and on the land, but enforcement action will be taken with due respect for public safety. Our number one concern is to make sure that we avoid confrontation, that we avoid conflict. Unlike the hon. member, we want to ensure that everything is done to avoid a situation—
Michel Bellehumeur Bloc Berthier—Montcalm, QC
Mr. Speaker, I made a speech in committee over 27 hours long in order to explain Quebec's position with respect to the treatment of young offenders.
Visibly ill at ease, the Minister of Justice had to resort to a gag order in order to silence the opposition to Bill C-3.
My question is this: Will the government listen to reason and allow Quebec to opt out, so that it can pursue its course of rehabilitating young offenders and returning them to society?
John Maloney LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, as we have said on numerous occasions, Bill C-3 is about accountability and responsibility. It is a balanced approach. It is a flexible approach.
On many occasions we have asked the hon. member where in the bill does it not allow Quebec to carry on the philosophy as they do now. Show me in the bill where you are prevented from doing so.
Young Offenders ActOral Question Period
The Speaker
My colleagues, please address your responses to the Speaker.
Michel Bellehumeur Bloc Berthier—Montcalm, QC
Mr. Speaker, the member should have been listening to what I said in committee for 27 and a half hours because I gave numerous examples that would have answered his question.
He knows perfectly well that the consensus in Quebec is that we should reject Bill C-3.
Apart from wanting to win over Canadian Alliance supporters, what is stopping the federal government from allowing Quebec to continue enforcing the young offenders legislation as it sees fit?
John Maloney LiberalParliamentary Secretary to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, as I have said, the bill provides flexibility. The bill allows for the Quebec system to continue as it would. This is good legislation. It is balanced across this wide country.
John Duncan Reform Vancouver Island North, BC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the minister said that his department has not been allowed to monitor the fishery in Miramichi Bay. That is an astounding thing to say. After all, the minister is the one who is responsible. If the minister is not in charge, then who is?
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, I guess he is referring to Burnt Church where we have been working to try to get dialogue and to try to get co-operation. That is what we have been doing for the last couple of weeks and for this year because we wanted an agreement. Unfortunately we were not able to get that. That is why, as a result of our estimates of the amount of catch in Miramichi Bay, we have taken the step of closing the Miramichi Bay to all lobster fishing to protect the resource for all Canadians. I would encourage and plead to Burnt Church to also protect the resource—
John Duncan Reform Vancouver Island North, BC
Mr. Speaker, Bob Rae has reported that the situation at Burnt Church is hopeless. It only took days for Bob Rae to determine that the situation is hopeless. Why did it take the minister months?
Herb Dhaliwal LiberalMinister of Fisheries and Oceans
Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the hon. member about the situation being hopeless.
I have always believed that dialogue can achieve the objectives we want. I have always believed that co-operation is the way to go. That is why my number one priority is to resolve some of the issues with dialogue and co-operation. That is why 29 out of 34 first nations have signed an agreement. We hope we will get more signed because dialogue and co-operation work. I will not give up on that because I believe that is the way to reduce conflict. That is the way to reduce confrontation.
Jocelyne Girard-Bujold Bloc Jonquière, QC
Mr. Speaker, in the matter of MOX, the public had confidence in the Department of Transport's public hearings.
Now the emergency plan accepted yesterday morning demonstrates that Transport Canada had no intention whatsoever of respecting the public's opposition.
Will the Minister of Natural Resources admit that the period of public hearings was nothing more than a façade of democracy, and that he never had any intention of taking the public's opposition into consideration?
Ralph Goodale LiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board
No, Mr. Speaker, I will not admit that because it is not true.
Jocelyne Girard-Bujold Bloc Jonquière, QC
Mr. Speaker, how can the minister explain that Transport Canada took less than 24 hours to analyze hundreds of scientific documents, one by Dr. Edwyn Lyman in particular, which demonstrate that the shipping of plutonium by air is extremely dangerous?