Loyola Hearn

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 23rd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we did not get caught up in the bottom trawling debate simply because when one is chasing elephants, one does not get sidetracked by rabbits. That was just one small paragraph in the major sustainable fisheries resolution where we had sides polarized on the bottom trawling issue.

With the leadership of Canada and our friends from Australia, in the wee hours of the morning, we arrived at a resolution where we have complete consensus from all the countries involved as it moves forward to the United Nations General Assembly.

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 23rd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, that is an extremely important question. I understand fully what he is talking about because the same thing applies to my own province, to several other provinces, and to several other countries.

For some reason Canada seems to be the one picked on, but Norway, Russia and other countries also have major seal hunts. Collectively, we are going to take on those who try to tell the world that it is wrong to kill seals. We must ensure that we have a balance in the ecosystem. If we do not keep the seal herds in control, our fish stocks will be destroyed and the herds themselves will self-destruct.

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 22nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will be in attendance at the meeting in Quebec on Thursday and I am sure he will bring forward any solutions that his party might have. This is a gathering so that collectively the entire industry can work together to find solutions to the tremendous amount of problems we have. Anything that can be done from a federal perspective, the hon. member can be assured it will be done.

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 22nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as the member quite clearly stated, on Thursday of this week there will be a major meeting in Quebec hosted by the provincial government. We will be attending, as we did in Newfoundland and Labrador, and as we did in the maritime provinces. At that meeting, we hope the concerns expressed by the entire industry will be clearly aired and then collectively we can address the problems because there are many of them.

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, there is absolutely no doubt about the fact that all of us are concerned about what goes on in the ocean. We have been saying that for many years.

For five years I was a member of the standing committee. We kept trying to convince the then government that it should do something about what is going on in the ocean and protect our stocks. We saw absolutely no leadership, but we are seeing it now.

Not only is Canada showing leadership, but many other countries are willing to work. It was just a matter of somebody going to the table and asking them to participate. We are glad--

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite evident that the minister is mixed up considerably between the environment and the fisheries.

If the former minister had done his job when he was the minister of fisheries, like many of his colleagues, we would not be in the mess we are in today. But by taking some leadership and bringing our international partners onside with us, things are changing. Hopefully the brain food that all of us need will be there when we need it. It is too bad the Liberals did not use it when they had the opportunity.

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, a report put out recently certainly put everybody on notice that if we had kept going the way the Liberals were going, we probably would not have any fish left 50 years down the road.

However, we have made major changes not only in how we operate in our own country but how we operate internationally, because for once in many years, Canada has taken the lead in dealing with fishery problems around the world. If the Liberals had done that several years ago, we would not have such a report on the record.

[Judges Act, November 7th, 2006]

moved that the bill, as amended, be concurred in at report stage and read the second time.

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 3rd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of things. Number one, Canada has taken the leadership in approaching this crisis. By using the precautionary principle not only ourselves but in encouraging other countries around the world, we have taken the leadership.

The member might be talking about bottom trawling, one subset of a major problem base. We are not the only country, by ourselves, and all the fishing nations in the world support Canada's stand, because that is only one part of the problem. We have to deal with the full problem or we are going to be in trouble.

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 3rd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, this is a very legitimate concern. It is something we have been aware of for quite some time. That is why we completely revamped NAFO. That is why we are taking a leadership role at the United Nations. We have to preserve and regrow our stocks. We have to preserve our habitat. We have to protect the ecosystem. If not, we could end up in such a disastrous situation.