Gail Shea

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 20th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the response is as follows: a) The news release “Statement by Fabian Manning, Senator” was not authored by DFO employees.

b) The news release was not approved or authorized by the department.

c) The department was not billed for the distribution of the news release by Marketwire and no amount was paid by DFO.

d) The department did not transmit or distribute the news release to any parties through any commercial means.

e) The department will not be billed and will not pay for the cost of using Marketwire for the distribution of this news release.

f) The news release was never published on any DFO website.

[Fisheries and Oceans, April 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that provinces with the lion's share of gulf shrimp, which are Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, will not see any decrease to their normal allocation. As a matter of fact, they will see a slight increase to their allocation.

Any future quota increases will be allocated with a slight upward adjustment of less than 1% for Nova Scotia and P.E.I. To put this in perspective, Quebec has almost 60% of the quota and P.E.I. has 1.1%.

[Fisheries and Oceans, March 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that since being appointed to this position back in October of last year, I have met with fisheries groups on a weekly basis and I will gladly answer anybody's questions.

I can tell the hon. member that on the 10-point management 10-year plan for lobster in Atlantic Canada, I have listened to the fishers. I have given the fishers more time to complete their plans because that is what they asked for.

[Fisheries and Oceans, March 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have not denied any request for a meeting. However, as I have said before in the House, licensing issues are confidential between the licensee and the department and is not something I can discuss with a third party.

[Seal Hunt, March 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the seal hunt does begin today around Îles-de-la-Madeleine. After being the subject of very disappointing attacks by both the Liberals and special interest groups, the sealers are a very resilient bunch.

I want to assure the 6,000 Canadian sealing families that they have the full support of the government, and we wish them a safe and very prosperous season.

[Fisheries and Oceans, March 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, the current legislation does give the minister absolute discretion in issuing those licences. I am confident that my predecessor made a good decision of sound judgment.

[Fisheries and Oceans, March 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, on any application, extenuating circumstances must be taken into account. Licensing decisions are confidential matters.

[Fisheries and Oceans, March 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, licensing issues are confidential.

I have great faith in my predecessor. There are a number of different issues around licences. I know he would have taken them all into account, and I will not be appealing an appeal.

[Seal Hunt, March 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our government has spent much time and resources defending the Canadian seal hunt abroad and here at home, which we were disappointed that we had to do. The hunt came under attack in Europe and now it is under attack right here in Canada.

We will continue to support our Canadian sealers. We will continue our efforts in Europe to ensure that the facts are known about the Canadian seal hunt and that our sealers are supported 100%.

[Seal Hunt, March 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government will continue to defend the rights of Canadian sealers to provide a livelihood for their families through a lawful, sustainable and humane hunt. We will continue to inform international discussions with factual material.

We will stand up for Canadian sealers, unlike the Liberal Party of Canada, which has attacked them.