Herb Dhaliwal

[Fisheries, May 18th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I am aware of those requests. I met with many of the people who made them. I will look at those in the same context as all other demands.

Making decisions on allocation is of course always very difficult. That is why we have set up a panel to look at how we can have transparency in the decision. The Quebec minister and all the ministers of Atlantic Canada have agreed to the panel so that they can review and make sure we make the allocation decision fairly and equitably for all Canadians.

[Fisheries, May 18th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, I will be announcing the northern shrimp plan very soon. It is a resource for which we have increased the harvesting by 300% in five years.

It is very important to make sure that conservation is our priority. There is always a huge demand. In fact there is a demand to increase the 112,000 metric tonnes by 50,000 metric tonnes.

I have met with many of the people and the minister. I will make sure that the decision I make will protect the resource for future generations. That will be the priority.

[Boating Safety, May 17th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question. As members of parliament know, this week is Safe Boating Week, which runs from May 19 to May 25. It is extremely important. The coast guard is working with its partners across the country to make Canadians aware of boating safety.

Last year we introduced an operator competency test which we asked all Canadian boaters to take. We can prevent many of the injuries that happen every summer on our lakes and rivers. We ask Canadians to be fully involved in safety during Safe Boating Week.

[Canadian Coast Guard, May 15th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what I told the hon. member. In fact we have given more resources to the coast guard because we allocated $115 million in the last budget to ensure that we have the equipment and tools to make sure we can carry out the coast guard service.

By the way, our coast guard men and women do a tremendous job in providing rescue and services for the marine sector.

[Canadian Coast Guard, May 15th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should take the time to look at the last budget and the government's commitments. In fact the coast guard received $115 million in the last budget. It is a commitment by members on this side of the House.

Guess what. The Alliance members voted against giving more money to the coast guard. The hon. member should look closely before he asks questions.

[Marine Industry, May 15th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to meet with the marine sector today to talk about some of these issues. They have made a case as to marine fees.

As the House knows, the minister of fisheries prior to me had frozen marine fees for a three year period. They will be reviewed in October. We will have another look at marine fees and work with the industry closely, as we have been doing for the last few years.

[Income Tax Amendments Act, 2000, May 11th, 2001]

I hope he did it electronically.

[Questions On The Order Paper, May 11th, 2001]

(a) The following equipment was installed at Cape Mudge light station as part of the lightstation service project.

This amount includes the total cost of equipment and hardware.

(b) The first electronic foghorn installed on October 21, 1997, was an AB560 model with a frequency of 645Hz. The foghorn's two emitters were defective at the time of installation and replaced under warranty, however the Canadian Coast Guard, CCG, spent approximately $900 to replace the emitters.

(c) Following the installation of the electric foghorn, complaints were received by local residents that the horn was too loud. The foghorn was subsequently replaced on April 9, 1998, by a smaller AP/FA390 foghorn with a frequency of 390Hz that has a lower frequency and less range. This is the horn that is currently operating at Cape Mudge. The AB560 foghorn was returned to inventory to be redeployed to another location. The cost to replace the foghorn with the AP/FA390 was approximately $1,400.

(d) The light station is serviced by CCG technicians on a six month schedule at an annual cost of $2,000 including the cost of labour helicopter time and travel costs.

In terms of additional costs, every attempt has been made to correct outages at Cape Mudge by combining with other regular maintenance trips. No other significant costs have been incurred since 1995.

Question No. 33—

[Port Infrastructures, May 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, there is always quite a bit of demand for repairs of small craft harbours. We look at safety and need across the country. It is a priority to make sure that our harbours are safe and can be utilized by our fishing fleets.

It is done on a merit basis. We are repairing small craft harbours across the country. We will continue to repair them to ensure that they are safe and can be properly utilized.

[Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, May 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for giving me notice on this question. He is absolutely right. The northern shrimp is extremely important for Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the maritime provinces.

The hon. member knows that there has been a huge increase in the harvesting of that resource, from just 37,000 tonnes five years ago to 112,000 tonnes. There are always pressures to exploit more of that resource, but we must ensure that any decisions we make are sustainable and that the resource can be taken advantage of for many years ahead.

My decision will be based—