John M. Cummins

[Supply, May 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. If I could just have a clarification, it seems to me that in times past you have always suggested to the House that a committee is the master of its own fate.

In that particular instance under discussion there was a motion put and a question was called on that motion. I do not understand why the question could not have been put at that time.

[Supply, May 27th, 2003]

Mr. Chair,the whip of the official opposition asked for a vote and you to this point have denied that vote. In standing here, Mr. Chair, I am challenging you and asking you to put that motion to a vote in this House now. That is not a matter of debate. It is a matter of my right as a member of this place to ask you to put that vote and to do it now.

I am challenging you, Mr. Chair, to put that motion to a vote to this committee now, please.

[Supply, May 27th, 2003]

Mr. Chair, the whip of the official opposition called for a vote and you did not respond to that call.

This is a committee hearing, Mr. Chair, and in any committee hearing there can be a call for a vote. If the Chair is not prepared or wants to challenge that, then it is the right of the members to give the Chair direction. There has been a call for a vote and if the Chair does not wish to call for that vote, then I as a member of the committee am going to ask you, Mr. Chair, to seek the consent of those who are here to continue. Otherwise, it is appropriate and fitting that the Chair at this point ask for a vote of the members assembled here.

[Coast Guard, May 13th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, obviously the minister does not know the capability of his equipment. Missing from yesterday's emergency was the only vessel capable of carrying sufficient life rafts and operating near the shore: the hovercraft based at Vancouver airport. It was laid up for repair.

Yesterday it was 350 passengers aboard a B.C. ferry. Tomorrow it could be 350 passengers aboard a jumbo jet on the tidal flats off the airport, where a hovercraft is the only vessel capable of functioning. When is the government going to--

[Coast Guard, May 13th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Coast Guard response to the fire yesterday aboard the B.C. ferry Queen of Surrey was woefully inadequate. The Coast Guard attended the scene with all the equipment available to it at the time: a 41 foot cutter from the Kitsilano Coast Guard base, a 24 foot inflatable from the Gibson Coast Guard auxiliary and a helicopter from Comox.

Fortunately the weather was kind and evacuation of 350 passengers was not required, but what if an evacuation had been required? How could this tiny fleet effect a massive rescue effort?

[Fisheries, May 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the minister talks about stabilizing access and certainly that is important. However at a time when crab stocks in area 12 and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are in decline, the minister, in addition to increasing the number of permanent licences in area 12, transferred fishermen from area 18 in Nova Scotia into area 12.

Why, when stocks were in decline, did he transfer fishermen from another area into area 12? Why now? Was he trying to provoke confrontation?

[Fisheries, May 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, a month ago a New Brunswick crab fisherman advised the minister that adding permanent licences when crab stocks were in decline threatened the fishery and would cause havoc in the industry. The minister chose to ignore fisherman. Now, vessels and a fish plant have been burned in retaliation; hardly a vote of confidence in the minister.

What will the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans do to re-establish his credibility and the credibility of his department?

[Petitions, April 30th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the last and fourth petition has to do with the Coast Guard. The petitioners call upon the government to fulfill its obligation to fully fund the Coast Guard, to replace the hovercraft that was pulled out of service in Vancouver last year, and, most important, to separate the Coast Guard from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and restore the funding.

[Petitions, April 30th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition has to do with Bill C-250. The petitioners call upon Parliament to protect freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and to reject Bill C-250.

[Petitions, April 30th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition has to do with management fees imposed upon the shrimp fishery on the west coast in British Columbia. That issue at one point was resolved and now it seems that it is a problem again.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to ensure that their rights and the conditions of British Columbia's union with Canada be recognized, and that their rights then as fishermen and the fees that they have to pay are fulfilling the obligation that was taken when British Columbia entered Confederation.