Blaine Calkins

[Justice, October 1st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Monday's open mic night in Montreal, hosted by the Leader of the Opposition, shows just how out of touch he is with Canadians. During the event, he committed to reintroduce a bill to decriminalize marijuana for recreational use, but made no mention of what he would do to combat the serious drug traffickers and producers that threaten the safety of our communities.

Could the Minister of Justice please update the House on what our government is doing to deal with this very important issue?

[Business of Supply, June 17th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to my colleague's excellent speech.

I remember in the 2006 election campaign, when then Prime Minister Paul Martin was campaigning on the notion of removing the notwithstanding clause from the Constitution, which we thought was pure folly. The whole reason it is there is because Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed thought it was a good idea so that in case there was tyranny of the majority of provinces, a province would be able to opt out of any federal statute.

Again we see the notion of prorogation being discussed here today. Prorogation is a tool used by the prime minister. It has been used throughout the history of our constitutional monarchy to relieve the situation of tyranny of the majority, which we have in the opposition parties.

I just wonder if the member for Kitchener--Conestoga could elaborate as to why it would be such a foolish idea to mess with these tools.

[Retirement Wishes, June 17th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, members all know the value of excellent staff who assist us daily in our duties as MPs. Staff come and go, but every so often one stands out and gives his or her all in supporting the MP.

Today I rise to salute the career of one such employee. Maureen Laffin O'Brien has worked on Parliament Hill for almost 30 years as a legislative assistant.

In 1981 she began her career working with Howard Crosby from Nova Scotia and remained with him for 12 years.

In 1993 newly elected Dale Johnston was in need of a guiding hand and hired Maureen to get his Ottawa office up and running. It did not take Dale long to realize that Maureen was a keeper, knowing the ins and outs of Ottawa. She stayed with Dale, serving for his entire 12 years as a member, forging a lasting friendship along the way.

In 2006 Maureen joined my office. She showed remarkable patience as I learned the ropes and has been a true friend and confidante since I arrived.

I want to thank Maureen for her tireless work, keen political advice and years of loyal service. Her talent, wisdom and positive demeanour will be greatly missed on the Hill. Twenty-nine years with three MPs is remarkable.

On behalf of all the staff, past and present, and everyone Maureen touched here on Parliament Hill, I would like to wish her good health and a happy and well-deserved retirement.

[Business of Supply, May 27th, 2010]

Mr. Chair, we all know that the CC-130 Hercules is the workhorse of the Canadian Forces' fleet of transport aircraft. It provides support to domestic and humanitarian aid operations and flies daily missions in Afghanistan. These aircraft have been called the lifeline of deployed forces, as they transport equipment, troops, and supplies to, from, and around theatres of operations.

For example, in Haiti, these aircraft carried much needed equipment, humanitarian relief supplies, and military and civilian personnel into the devastated country. They were also used to transport Canadian citizens back to Canada in the first few weeks following the earthquake.

In Afghanistan, CC-130 Hercules are a vital part of our military task force, and they continue to be a mainstay of the NATO airlift in Afghanistan.

Renewing the tactical airlift fleet is an important element of the Canada first defence strategy and of the commitment to rebuild the Canadian Forces into a first-class modern military. Could the minister please provide us with an update on how this project is progressing?

[Taxation, May 14th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, all week the Liberals have been bragging about their sad, sorry and pathetic record of the 1990s. Their confusion about this dark era must be because their leader was far, far away from Canada at the time.

Would the Minister of Transport remind the House just what the Liberal record from the 1990s is and why, perhaps, the Liberals should not be quite so boastful?

[New Horizons for Seniors, May 14th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, seniors groups in the constituency of Wetaskiwin and all across this country are reaping the benefits of Canada's economic action plan.

The popular new horizons for seniors program received a two-year $10 million boost in budget 2010.

Our government recognizes that seniors are valuable members of society and contribute a diversity of skills, knowledge and experience to their communities.

This year alone, the Wetaskiwin Senior Citizens Society received a $10,200 grant enabling it to continue to provide recreational activities for local residents.

The Lone Ridge Community Hall Association will be using its $9,200 grant to make improvements to its facility that has become the social hub for seniors from the surrounding area.

In the hamlet of Mirror, the Jolly Seniors Social Club received $21,000 to renovate the popular hall that hosts so many family and community functions.

Over in Thorsby, $9,000 from the new horizons program will enable talented seniors to teach traditional cooking methods to young people.

The new horizons program gives seniors an opportunity to continue to make a difference in the lives of others. The Government of Canada is proud to support seniors in strengthening our communities and building our great country.

[ATLANTIC SHELLFISH INDUSTRY, May 12th, 2010]

When we take a look at some of the issues that are facing this country now, and I do not know why I am being heckled on this. It does not make any sense to have a question regarding the Fisheries Act because it is something that we all agree needs to be looked at.

There are recent court decisions in British Columbia where constitutional battles are taking place right now deciding who is responsible for what. All of these things are the result of governments, whether provincial or federal, doing the best that they can dealing in the context of old legislation. It is time that we actually put aside the partisanship that we see so much when it comes to this issue and look for the best interests of fish, the best interests of Canadians, and have an intelligent debate to modernize the Fisheries Act.

[ATLANTIC SHELLFISH INDUSTRY, May 12th, 2010]

Mr. Chair, we have a lot of legislation in this country. It was good legislation at the time based on what we had. For example, the same thing could be said for the Navigable Waters Protection Act, which had not been amended since 1872, the original date that legislation came into effect.

I have to give credit where credit is due. The previous minister, minister Hearn, had a lot of courage in a minority Parliament to bring forward the Fisheries Act. Unfortunately, we never had an opportunity in two Parliaments. It was hoisted and we never had an opportunity to debate, go across the country, talk to fishermen and engage them on this.

Unfortunately, department officials, the science and ministers, along with the government are held to account by the laws that are passed. I and most of the members of the House would argue that the Fisheries Act of 1868 might be a little bit past its best before date. It has worked relatively well--

[ATLANTIC SHELLFISH INDUSTRY, May 12th, 2010]

Mr. Chair, given my vast experience on the east coast because we seem to travel there as a committee with the annual crisis in some aspect of the Atlantic fishery, whether it is lobsters, last year, or small craft harbours, the year before, I look very much forward to hearing from Atlantic fishermen. I certainly enjoy their hospitality and the insight I get out there when I actually talk to the people involved in the industry.

My understanding is that the shrimp industry is quite a bit different insofar as the policy, as far as whether it is last-in first-out or whether it is what currently happens with the crab fishery or the lobster fishery in their allocations. Each of those fisheries is quite a bit different.

We could have a debate on this if the hon. member proposes that we should investigate this and see if there should be a change in the policy, but right now the agreement has been well known by the shrimp fishermen. It is a different industry. The policy on how those fishermen are treated as far as their licences are concerned is completely separate and different than the crab fishery. If we want to have a debate on that some day, I would be more than happy to.

[ATLANTIC SHELLFISH INDUSTRY, May 12th, 2010]

Mr. Chair, I do not need to look up the numbers in the budget estimates for the hon. member. He can do that.

We just had department officials before the committee answering questions pertaining to the estimates, so those numbers are all publicly available. I do not have them off the top of my head. I do remember, however, in the committee that there were not very many questions from the opposition members directed at the officials regarding scientific spending. I can only assume, therefore, that the members of the opposition are satisfied with the money that is spent on the fishery.

I do not quite understand what he is asking so far as the lobster fishery is concerned because it is a different fishery altogether. We have seen a change in the science when it comes to the escape mechanism in traps and so on. These things were actually rejected when science was put forward saying to the fishing community that they needed to increase the minimum size.

It is no different than when I was a fisheries technician. We looked at slot sizes for walleye. I worked for several years on a walleye minimum size experiment. We collected the information. We tagged walleye. Doing a market capture experiment is the way we would estimate the biomass. With that experiment we would run into a lot of frustration with anglers and we would run into frustration with commercial fishermen.

Years after this decisive action was taken as a result of the information we gathered, we have much more productive fisheries now in Alberta. We have much larger fish. We protected the reproductive stock.

That is what we have done with the lobster as well. We have increased the carapace sizes in the various lobster fishing areas to make sure that the right size lobster is being harvested, that there is enough biomass there to reproduce. The same thing needs to happen with the crab fishery as well. We need to have enough females there to ensure that the stocks can continue on in the future.

We have seen a decline. It seems completely normal to me. The year 2005 was the peak year and on a 10-year cycle that would mean that we are about halfway through the very bottom of the trough. It is not expected that we are going to come up, as I said in my speech, until 2012, which means that a competent minister, such as the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans of this government, has to take the measures that are appropriate for conserving the fish stocks for the future.