Mr. Speaker, I want to start by denouncing the violence happening in my region, in southwestern Nova Scotia, in the Clare and St. Marys Bay areas.
Everything we have been seeing to date is happening in the riding of West Nova. I wish I were not here talking about this tonight. I wish there were a solution at hand that was brought forward days, months or years ago to solve the issue of moderate livelihood for indigenous people. During that process, I would have thought there would have been some consultation along the way with the people of West Nova whose lobster fishery is being affected by this.
This has been happening for weeks. This has been happening for months. At least two months ago, I wrote my first letter to the minister underlining the issue that is before us. I have asked questions in the House. I brought it up in my debate to the address in reply.
Finally, now that these threats have been thrown around and the violence has become too much, people seem interested in what is happening in West Nova. Where were the other MPs? One would have thought that at some point I would have received a phone call from someone asking what the situation really means.
What is causing the problem we are seeing in West Nova? I can tell the House that the people I represent are scared and worried about what is happening in their communities. They are wondering what is going to happen next in their communities.
Before I get to the current situation, I want to ask the minister and the people who are speaking here today to please not paint my area as racist. There are probably a few, as in many of our ridings. It is true there is systemic racism in Canada, but my area is not racist by default. That does not represent the majority of my citizens.
Let us talk about where this starts. I know I do not have enough time to talk about all the things I really want to talk about regarding where the current situation is going, but the concern of an illegal fishery in St. Marys Bay has been known by the DFO for many years, with some natives and non-natives involved.
We just need to look at the recent case of Sheng Ren Zheng of China, who was charged in Nova Scotia back in August for selling indigenous lobsters. Residents in the community of Clare tell me that this is still going on. The DFO and the RCMP need to continue these investigations and make public the information from them.
That extra illegal activity has been affecting the local lobster stock by about 60%. The people of Clare are very worried about retaliation. To date they have been very quiet about this, but it is one of many points of discussion that is not about the current situation of moderate livelihood.
The Marshall decision and the treaty rights are accepted by local fishers in the area, but, as it will affect their livelihood, they should be consulted, and it should be discussed with them at the base. Marshall 2 and subsequent fisheries committee, the FOPO committee, led by the member for Malpeque at the time, was very expressive in including all participants in discussions to define what a moderate livelihood fishery actually is.
I guess the DFO needs to learn that consultation requires listening, not just talking, which is all it seems to do. I have heard it from the minister a number of times already. I have talked to fishers. She has made a couple of phone calls. She does not really understand what their concerns are, or at least it has not been shown that she knows what the core of this discussion really is.
I made a number of points in my letter about the Marshall decision, what the Marshall decision is and what it is not. I thought I raised probably the one point that is in here, but the letter is available on my website. First and foremost, the court claims that it did not hold that the Mi'kmaq treaty right could not be regulated, nor that the Mi'kmaq were guaranteed an open season in the fisheries. That is paragraph two of the Marshall decision. The court emphasized that the treaty right had always been subject to regulation, and the government's power to regulate the treaty right had been repeatedly affirmed in the September 17, 1999, majority judgment. That is paragraph 24 of the Marshall decision.
There are a number of suggestions of what the Marshall decision is and what it is not. Most fishers and most associations that I have talked to accept the decision of Marshall 2. They look forward to negotiation, discussion and consultation when it comes to this issue.
I also hear from the minister about the nation-to-nation negotiation, and that there is no seat for commercial fishers at the table. I am okay with that. Commercial fishermen are okay with that as well, but in most negotiations there is always a second consultation table where experts sit so they can go back and confirm what they are thinking and what they are not thinking. As a matter of fact, in the recent negotiation with the United States, nation-to-nation, on NAFTA, we know that Jerry Dias was sitting at the table with the negotiators representing workers.
The workers in the fishing community, which is the base of all of our economic activity in West Nova, just want to be able to sit at the table, to be part of that negotiation and to be able to provide a moderate livelihood for their families as well.
There are tensions on all sides. Not everyone is subject to this, but I have seen threats from all sides. Tensions need to be brought down. I spend my days talking to fishermen and telling them to stand down while negotiations are ongoing, and quite honestly, I am getting very tired of it. I ask for everyone's help to continue to bring down this pressure.
This morning at a rally in Barrington, the previous minister of fisheries in Nova Scotia Sterling Belliveau said something important that worries me. He said, “If you're not at the table, you're probably on the menu” and today my fishers are really worried that, because they are not being consulted and they are not at the table talking about things, their industry is on the menu.
I am looking forward to getting calls from all my colleagues wondering what is going on in the fishery in Nova Scotia, but I need the minister to step up. I need her to be here on the ground. I need her to meet with fishermen, both indigenous and non-indigenous as well. As a matter of fact, I have a truck and I am more than happy to pick her up, drive her down and keep her safe while we have these discussions.