Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that the only thing that is racially based is the nature of the questions being asked in the House of Commons.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 54% of the vote.
Fisheries November 27th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that the only thing that is racially based is the nature of the questions being asked in the House of Commons.
Fisheries November 22nd, 1995
I have a bad throat so you will have to be quiet if you want to hear the answer. I am not used to yelling.
As the hon. member knows, people with native backgrounds occupy 40 per cent of the commercial sector of the industry. Coming from Prince Rupert I am sure he knows that. The commercial fleet, the people who speak on behalf of the aboriginal fisheries, the sports sector, in fact all sectors, are attending a round table process. The purpose of this process is to bring the industry
together to produce a plan for the proper management of the fishery.
The process is not finished and until it is those kinds of conclusions cannot be drawn. We ought to let people who want to work together-
Fisheries November 22nd, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member, who comes from Prince Rupert and who has within his constituency both native and non-native fishermen, would not want to get up in the House and inadvertently or carelessly, which would not be in his nature, cause a division between the native community and the non-native community.
Fisheries November 21st, 1995
Mr. Speaker, the member has asked a specific question, will I cut the department of fisheries by $50 million? The answer is no. I am cutting it by $250 million.
I want to advise the member that it is not the Fisheries Council of Canada that speaks for the fishermen, it is the Harvesters Council. We met them last Monday and the member should try doing the same. Talk to a few fishermen once in a while.
Fisheries November 21st, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I hope the member knows the difference between bilge and bunk because what he is spewing now is bunk.
Fisheries November 21st, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I do know a few things about fish. I will not make any admission that the cost of administration within DFO is totally out of control.
I know the member will want to carefully do his homework with respect to making representations on behalf of the Fisheries Council of Canada. What he should know is that the Fisheries Council of Canada said that we should have a fishery more like New Zealand. In New Zealand 73 per cent of all the quota available in the whole country is held by only eight companies.
If the Reform Party is seriously suggesting that some 64,000 fishermen ought to disappear so that eight corporations could hold 75 per cent of the quota, then the member should say so.
Agriculture November 21st, 1995
Mr. Speaker, even a minister of fisheries knows you cannot put the cart before the horse. The reality is the plebiscite results will not be released until December 5. The member opposite would be the first one to stand and complain if the minister of agriculture came to conclusions in advance of knowing the plebiscite results and finishing the consultations.
Be patient and a very excellent minister will do a very excellent job as usual.
Agriculture November 21st, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I rise to take this question on behalf of my colleague, the minister of agriculture. Let me confess that I do not have the kind of knowledge this question requires to give a good answer. But I do know that the best minister of agriculture who lives and breathes on the North American continent today sits to my left in the House of Commons.
Fisheries November 20th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, unlike members opposite who bellow from several thousand miles away, I happen to know that this member had a round table in his constituency on the future of the fishery. He took the trouble to actually listen to fishermen before coming to the House of Commons to ask questions.
I understand fishermen are saying that they are prepared to pay a fair share and pay their own way, providing the system is fair and equitable.
If changes can be made that make the system more fair and more equitable, and if that means rewriting portions of what we proposed based on genuine consultation with genuine fishermen who genuinely want to pay their own way, we will do it, of course.
Fisheries November 20th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, there is a Newfoundland expression that means you have a lot of nerve: you have to have the face of a robber's horse for a Reform Party member to stand and pretend to give a whit about Atlantic Canada.
This is the party that would be overly happy if we could give everybody in Atlantic Canada what it would call a national deficit fare. It wants to give everybody a one-way ticket to somewhere else.
We are bringing in policies that generate productivity in Atlantic Canada, create new wealth, treat people fairly and are designed to ensure the population is maintained and grows. The Reform Party has no lesson to give those of us on this side of the House about the reality of Atlantic Canada.