Madam Speaker, all the hon. gentleman wants to do is distract me from issues which are very pertinent to the bill but somewhat embarrassing for the member and his party.
I was saying that the minister really responsible for ACOA is the Minister of Industry. Now, knowing that, in case some people did not, do members think that a person in such a position might manipulate ACOA or the funds that flow through it? I leave it up to hon. members to answer that question.
However, clause 4 of the bill states that the board of ACOA can meet only once a year. To suggest that the board of such an important agency meet only once a year downgrades the agency and its potential and shows that the real decision making power is in the hands of government. The ironic thing about this is that on same page the bill creates an act establishing Telefilm Canada. The clauses describe the constitution of Telefilm Canada, a new agency that the government is putting together consisting of six members to be appointed by the governor in council. It goes on to say the board shall meet at least once every three months, so Telefilm Canada, now being created by the government as part of the bill, is important enough to meet every three months while the board of ACOA is now downgraded to meeting once a year.
I wonder if my hon. colleague from Prince Edward Island, whose area has benefited greatly from ACOA, now sees how importantly his government looks upon this agency which has been so helpful to our region. Maybe he, like I, will protest this downgrading of the board's authority.
The other interesting clause in the bill is about wiping out the old Fisheries Prices Support Board. If members were to speak to anybody in the fishing industry they would say that they have no objection to that, simply because the board has outlived its usefulness. With free trade now and competition factors affecting the industry, not only in relation to Canada dealing with the United States but Canada dealing with the world and vice versa, the Fisheries Prices Support Board and others are certainly no longer relevant. The deletion of that board would not have a negative effect on the fishing industry.
However, again, here we are a couple of days before the House closes for Christmas and we are spending time talking about deleting a board that is no longer relevant. I wonder why the people from the department of fisheries and the minister in particular are not here in front of the House. As I say this, I am presuming that my friend from Prince Edward Island, the chair of the fisheries standing committee, will stand up and agree with what I will say, because he more than any of us realizes the lack of impact on fisheries policy the minister has.
We have a Department of Fisheries and Oceans for which the funding has practically been totally eliminated. The only saving grace that the minister has had at all in recent years is the extra amount of money put into his department to buy out licences from people who are trying to get out of the fishery.
It is an amazing kind of mathematics that has been carried out. Hundreds and hundreds of licences have been bought out and millions and millions of dollars have been expended to do this. Yet when we total up the numbers there are more people fishing today than there were when the process was started. I am not sure what is happening here. I am certain, however, that the minister is not sure what is happening either.
If the minister is to bring something before the House, where is his request for funding to deal with wharves, harbours, dredging and sheltered basins for fishermen? Where is the request for funding to deal with the coast guard problems? If we fly into Canada today we go through all kinds of scrutiny. If we come in by road we are lined up at the borders. However, if we have anything from a dory to an ocean liner we can land anywhere in the country and nobody would know we were coming unless we called ahead.
These are the issues along with the aquaculture problem we are facing. While our aquacultural industry is on the verge of collapse because of competition from Chile, our Minister for International Trade sits by and does nothing. Shrimp fishermen in Atlantic Canada are trying to get their product into the European market. They are hit with a tariff while the Minister for International Trade sits by and does nothing.
It is frustrating when there are so many problems in the department to see that the only contribution of the minister in this session to our fishing industry was to wipe out the Fisheries Prices Support Board. Perhaps it is best to say nothing. What is the good of it when people we talk to do not understand the process anyway?