Mr. Speaker, one of the things that perturbs me perhaps more so than having a motion rejected that deals with the Canadian flag as we just saw happen, is debating an issue which I raised in question period, receiving an answer I was not satisfied with, and wanting to debate the issue with the minister involved.
However, evening after evening, with few exceptions, the ministers involved send in the parliamentary secretary with a prepared statement. It does not matter what I say about the question I raised. It does not matter whether I emphasize that I was not satisfied with the answer, or whether I talk about the rain tomorrow and how it will affect fish. I will get the same answer. When I asked the minister the question his response did not satisfy me, not to the limit of how far he went but more so in what he did not say in contribution to my question.
I was talking about the Russian boat that was arrested and brought into St. John's. It was determined that the boat contained a tremendous amount of product that was undersize. We obtained a copy of the manifest from the boat long before the minister did. By carefully scrutinizing the manifest we could see that there were all kinds of possible infractions staring us in the face.
The minister and his department quite often look at the manifest. It is like individuals stopping at customs coming across the border, being asked what they have to declare and answering they have nothing to declare because it is all on the form. In the meantime their trunk and suitcase is full of contraband.
The boats come into port having caught fish perhaps 30 or 60 days before landing, having processed the product and stored it in a frozen state where it would be impossible to tell what we are dealing with anyway, and flashing the manifest. We thank them and say they have done everything in accordance with the law. We ask them to unload, send their product back home and sail again. That is not good enough because we have seen evidence now of blatant abuses.
The minister in responding said NAFO regulations were followed. If we accept the manifest then he is right. The problem is that the NAFO regulations are wrong when we let people catch species like redfish the size of one's thumb using illegal gear to do it, when catching species that are not supposed to be caught at all because they are under moratorium and when the manifest clearly shows that they caught a lot more than they were supposed to.
If the regulations are wrong, no one has a better chance to do something about it than the minister of fisheries, who today rejected a clear cut decision and direction given to him by the committee. I am not sure what the member will say in response but I look forward to it.