Brian Tobin

[Canadian Coast Guard, April 3rd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question.

This proposal, which originated with the quick thinking of the Minister of Transport who is looking for ways to consolidate, to build efficiencies and to save the taxpayers money, has been today officially approved by the Prime Minister. The merger of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard will result in some 168 vessels, including 42 offshore vessels, working together, hand in hand.

We saw an example last week of how putting coast guard vessels, officers and personnel, and DFO personnel together working efficiently for Canada contributed greatly to sustaining, to building and to protecting our offshore resources. I thank the member for his question.

[Fisheries, April 3rd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, there are a number of vessels in the contested area. It is clear to anybody who looks at it objectively that if there is one interest, if there are some people who have an interest in not having an effective conservation regime and an effective enforcement regime, as the Prime Minister has set out as the priority of the Government of Canada, it is perhaps some of the skippers, some of the captains and some of the owners of those vessels.

Any agreement approved by the Government of Canada subject to the mandate set out by the Prime Minister personally is an agreement that would see the future of the turbot species and all other groundfish species and straddling stocks maintained not only for Canada, because this is not just about Canada, but for all mankind.

[Fisheries, April 3rd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.

There are ongoing negotiations at this moment in Brussels between the Canadian and EU delegation. The negotiations have made very good progress over the weekend. Only a few matters remain to be resolved in principle.

The member will realize that at the end of the negotiating process the report of the negotiators will be sent to the authorities in Brussels at the EU government and to the Prime Minister and members of the cabinet for consideration. We hope that occurs shortly. We hope that at the end of the day, as we have always preferred, a negotiated and effective enforcement and conservation regime is possible.

[Fisheries, March 30th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the negotiations in Brussels are going on today and are constructive. They focus primarily on the area singled out by the Prime Minister some two weeks ago as the matter of primary concern for Canada. That is the question of conservation and enforcement.

We have had the support of the country and unanimous support in this House of all members and all parties. It is deeply appreciated by the government and has allowed us to take a strong position.

We have said that sustaining the species is what matters most. We have said we would put our priorities, as the Prime Minister indicated two weeks ago, on conservation enforcement. We are making progress in that area. We hope the talks will conclude successfully but we have learned to be patient, to make sure we do it right rather than do it quickly. We will see what happens.

[Fisheries, March 30th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I am being heckled by my own side.

[Fisheries, March 24th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for St. John's East for her question. Her interest in this matter is well known in the House and throughout the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

This conference has now been ongoing for two years. It has made very substantial progress to the point at which we now have more than 80 per cent of all of the countries participating in New York at the UN conference supporting the proposal endorsed and in some respects authored by Canada for a binding convention that would give us effective rules, transparent rules to govern the ways distant water fishing fleets behave on the high seas.

We hope for a success and a completed conference this year but even if a convention comes in 1995 it will take several years for it to gain ratification.

In the interim we must have effective means to protect those fragile and fast disappearing straddling stocks.

[Fisheries, March 24th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to talking about records and positions of members, I assume that on 24 hours' notice, the member's position can change.

This is the member who said, and Canadians should note, on behalf of the Reform Party that he did not support the strong measures being taken by Canada to bring about enforcement with respect to the Spanish fleet.

This is the member who 24 hours later turned himself inside out in verbal gymnastics to change his mind. I will wait another day. Perhaps Monday we will know the real position.

[Fisheries, March 24th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, we have carried out many dozens of inspections over many years in the NAFO regulatory zone.

What those inspections tell us-this information has been made public in the past-is that there are repeated examples, in particular by the Spanish fleet, of every rule of conservation being violated by those that participate on the Grand Banks.

The reason we are not doing inspections at this time is that the Canadian patrol vessels out there have already participated in one armed seizure of a Spanish vessel. In that circumstance and given the tension that exists between those officers and the Spanish fleet, sending a couple of unarmed officers aboard at this time may not be in their personal best interest or safety.

We will do nothing that will needlessly or recklessly put our officers at risk when we know with certainty that this fleet is cheating, is not following the rules, is fishing indiscriminately. The action we need is not inspection but enforcement by Spain, enforcement by the EU or failing that, enforcement by Canada.

[Points Of Order, March 23rd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I want to correct the record as well. Given what I just heard, the member does not look like a pickled pickerel.

[Fisheries, March 23rd, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I take your sanction. No more firing from the hip.

I want to respond to the member by telling him that we are examining the recommendation of the standing committee on fisheries. We are seeking to find a way to give the native communities concerned an opportunity to participate in the fresh fish market, perhaps without some of the current constraints that are in place under the FFMC.

At the same time, we are not going to move rapidly to privatize or dismantle FFMC. We want to hear from all of the fishermen who access its services and all the provinces that have a concern about its future.

We are going to move slowly. We are going to consult clearly and carefully. We are going to consult the member because we find that in due course he usually comes to the right conclusion.