Madam Speaker, I am here to speak to my deep distress over the plight of wild salmon on the coast of British Columbia. I hope everyone has had the chance to experience the amazing journey salmon make when returning to their home habitats. It is awe inspiring to see their dedication and strength as they return to spawn.
On the coast I live on, the wild salmon are the backbone of our region. They are what we eat, the mainstay of our economy and what we live to protect. Sadly, for many years, the salmon have been ignored. The much-needed restoration of streams and rivers has been completely ignored. The harm done to wild salmon by the lack of an active strategy to restore and monitor was in the hands of both Conservative and Liberal governments, and look where we are today.
Often I have seen that rural and remote communities, like the ones I have the honour of representing, are ignored. How long have indigenous communities, public and sports fisheries, commercial fisheries and environmental groups come to the door of successive governments warning them that the wild salmon are at risk? The restoration needs to happen now, not later, and it is later now. It should have happened many years ago.
I can tell this House that in my riding of North Island—Powell River, the desire to protect wild salmon is high. I hear from all sectors, and their concerns are very similar. In my riding, there is simply not enough staff working on the ground from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The ones who are there are working hard, but with such a large and diverse region, with so many communities, we simply need more staff in the area. We need more to participate in what is happening in our region and in our communities. We need them to bring that information back to Ottawa so that they know here what is happening in our communities so that local knowledge is part of the decision-making process.
Several weeks ago, I had the honour of doing a tour at a local hatchery, one of several in my riding, with the Powell River Salmon Society. This amazing group has worked hard with its small staff, dedicated board of directors and numerous volunteers to do what it can to support the salmon. With no increase in funding in over 35 years, it is amazing what the group has been able to do.
My communities are ready to do all they can to support wild salmon. What we need is a bold plan, one that focuses on creating a safe place for wild salmon to thrive, and it must be a community-based coastal plan, not one from Ottawa.
For too long, successive governments have forgotten the realities of small, rural and remote communities. A bold plan is what I am here to look for and what should have been done over 10 years ago. It was not, and now my communities are having to pay the price of successive governments' inaction.
I am hoping to hear today what the plan is for the region I represent, what effort will be put into protecting the habitat for salmon and what will be done to support the many communities and businesses that rely on salmon. It is so important to my riding, and I hope that we get a good answer for those folks today.