Catherine Bell

[Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, May 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his interventions and for his stance on biofuels, and also his explanation. I hope my hon. colleague from the government party now understands our position. My colleague has explained very well that we do support the concept of biofuels, but we do not support the government's bill that is flawed.

My colleague said that there is a way of doing it and getting it right. I think we have an opportunity in this House to explore all the possibilities and get it right. It does not have to be a one off situation where we use grains for ethanol. We need to look at a whole host of things. We also need to make sure that we are not putting in jeopardy world food supplies and affecting the food markets in such a way that we are impacting people half way around the world. That is something that we definitely do not want to do.

I would like my colleague from British Columbia Southern Interior to perhaps speak some more about our vision of what can be done to make sure that this bill is done right and what we could support.

[Oceans, May 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has been celebrating Oceans Day on June 8 for 16 years, but the UN has yet to officially recognize it. This is ironic because it was originally proposed at the UN's 1992 Earth Summit in Rio.

Today I introduced a motion calling on the Government of Canada to take the lead at the United Nations to formally recognize World Oceans Day. I would like to thank the members of the House for giving unanimous consent to my motion.

The world's oceans belong to all of us. By having the UN formally recognize June 8 as World Oceans Day, I believe we will help raise awareness about the vital role played by our oceans and the pressures placed on them. Oceans cover over two-thirds of the planet, with billions of people living on their shores. We rely on oceans for food and income. Close to $500 billion a year goes to the global economy, but 70% of commercially viable fisheries have collapsed or are at risk of collapse.

We must pay more attention to our oceans. World Oceans Day would provide a launch to do that.

[World Oceans Day, May 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations between the parties and I believe you would find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion. I move:

That, it is the will of the House that the Government of Canada use its position and influence at the United Nations to have June 8 formally recognized by the United Nations as World Oceans Day.

[Search and Rescue, May 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, words from the minister will not give B.C. search and rescue aircraft enough propellers to fly or engines that will not quit.

People want to know if the planes will fly, not Conservative spin.

Why is it that the government has no trouble finding a half million dollars to buy advocacy from the Conference of Defence Associations but cannot find enough money to replace planes that save lives on our Pacific coast?

[Search and Rescue, May 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, defence department documents show that the situation for the aging fleet of Buffalo search and rescue planes is worse than we thought. It is very precarious, they say, and yet the government decided that it would wait until 2015 before replacing these 40-year-old aircraft.

Will the Conservatives commit to having new search and rescue planes before 2015 or will they admit that, even with a $70 billion military capital plan, domestic search and rescue is just not a priority for the Conservatives?

[Petitions, May 14th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from just over 100 petitioners in my riding who are asking the government to end the east coast Canadian commercial seal hunt.

The petitioners are concerned about the destruction of seal habitat. They are also concerned that the seal population has been devastated. The petitioners are very worried about the cruel and needless slaughter and they want the seal hunt to end.

[Petitions, May 14th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, today I have the honour to present two petitions. The first petition was signed by 60 people from my riding and from Vancouver Island. The petitioners want the government to enact the seniors charter that was passed by a majority of this House.

The Conservatives promised they would honour the will of this House. These petitioners are calling on the government to keep its promises.

[May 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam for his answers. Unfortunately, I would like to have seen at least the Minister of Fisheries here or the parliamentary secretary to answer these very serious questions.

The decline of salmon stocks on the west coast puts fishermen and our communities in crisis. We are looking at possible closures. First nations are being forced to share what little catch they are getting. I can only reiterate the importance of this issue. I cannot fathom why the minister or his parliamentary secretary are not here today.

Again, I am speaking to salmon enhancement that could go a long way to improve stocks on the west coast. When we look at funding for salmon enhancement at 1999 levels in the year 2008--

[May 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, on March 13, I asked the fisheries minister if he intended to raise the issue of so-called accidental fishing during negotiations with the Americans and whether he would start enforcing Canada's territorial waters and fine the American fishermen who illegally took our fish.

I also mentioned that the Conservative government was in treaty negotiations with the United States over Pacific salmon rights. Reports that American pollock fishers accidentally caught 130,000 Chinook, a full half of those fish from Canadian waters, is unacceptable. Canada's Chinook is at an all time low and working families and fishing communities are struggling to make ends meet.

The minister said that the government had already addressed the issue, that the amount of bycatch was unacceptable and that the government had made that quite clear to the Americans.

It is good to know that the issue was raised with our friends south of the border but he left Canadian fishermen with no guarantees that it will not happen again.

It is also interesting to note that the minister referred to a historical part of our heritage and an economic way of life for people of the Pacific south coast as “bycatch”, a term that seems to suggest that the fish that were caught are an unwanted commodity. It may be to pollock fishermen but to the people who feed their families and depend on the Chinook salmon for their financial well-being, bycatch hardly reflects the importance of these fish.

The United States recently issued a closure for Chinook, or King salmon, for California, Oregon and Washington. Now I am hearing disturbing news that it is currently in negotiations with our government in an effort to obtain Canadian fishing rights.

I am hearing from the Pacific south coast region that the Americans have put $20 million to $30 million on the table in the negotiation process. I am hearing that moneys collected will be used to subsidize the DFO budget and allow it to expand its research on the changing ocean climate, research on low escapement estimates and the salmon enhancement program.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is a Canadian government institution. Why would we even consider using American government funds for Canadian government initiatives?

The Pacific Salmon Commission's mandate is to create a mechanism for discussion between Canada and the United States around the salmon stock that we share because of the natural migratory path of the species. It also has a mandate to establish and enforce conservation to ensure the future of the species. As a commission, it identifies the issues and each country creates management policies. This mechanism was established to protect each country's sovereignty, a sovereignty that we are watching disappear right before our eyes.

Through discussions with a variety of stakeholder groups, it has now become apparent that DFO funding for many years now has been insufficient for the Pacific region.

The valuable salmon enhancement program is struggling due to cuts and the lack of a funding increase. The funding is still at 1999 levels. The hatcheries in B.C. have to contend with escalating costs and are cutting programs that would assist the salmon industry by enhancing declining stocks.

We need to do everything we can to increase salmon populations on the west coast. Habitat protection, science and enforcement are also DFO departments that have seen a decline in resources in the recent past.

Could the minister confirm that negotiations are taking place between Canada and the U.S.A. with regard to the purchase of Pacific salmon rights in Canadian waters and will he guarantee that he will protect Canadian sovereignty and ensure that the rights of Canadian fishermen are protected? Also--

[Specific Claims Tribunal Act, May 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, from what I understand from the discussions, the $150 million will be adequate in most of the cases but in cases where it is not there is another level. I am not quite sure of the specifics on how that is accessed or the process once the $150 million threshold is reached.

I would remind the hon. member that under the previous Liberal government its cap was much lower. I believe one of my colleagues actually mentioned around $10 million. I would need to check that fact but that is a lot less than $150 million.

I think that is an important point that the member made. As I said back in 1963, when an original bill was introduced where around $17 million was the total for all the specific claims, now we are looking at billions of dollars. I hope, as I am sure he does, that the government has laid enough money aside and that once these claims are finalized, the money will flow quickly and that we will not need to see more claims made to access the money that is owed to first nations.