Geoff Regan

[Question No. 112—, April 8th, 2002]

I ask, Mr. Speaker, that the remaining questions be allowed to stand.

[Question No. 112—, April 8th, 2002]

I am informed by the Department of Environment and the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission as follows:

Environment Canada

With respect to the dissemination of Environment Canada’s severe weather warnings, the government is pleased to identify the following specific efforts made with regard to: a ) the development of all-channel alert, ACA.

EC and Pelmorex, the Weather Network/Météomédia, continue to work to develop a national emergency warning system for cable TV subscribers. The system would deliver emergency text messages such as severe weather warnings on the bottom of the screen on every channel in a designated area served by a cable television service provider. Pelmorex planned to fund this system through an increase of 13 cents per month per subscriber. In a ruling announced February 23, 2001, the CRTC denied the application. The CRTC’s reasons for the denial were:

--the lack of a detailed plan for implementing the service on digital television distribution systems as quickly as possible;

--the lack of clarity in the costing proposal and;

--the need to address the concerns of the visually impaired.

Currently Pelmorex and the broadcasting and cable industry have solved the technical and administrative issues identified in the CRTC decision, except funding. It is believed that in lowering the cost from the current 13 cents per month user by 3 cents or more it is critical to get CRTC support. Efforts are under way to resolve this issue. In addition, the events of September 11 have clarified the need to be able to effectively communicate to citizens in times of emergency. To this effect EC is working with Industry Canada, IC, and the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness, OCIPEP, to develop a strategy for the development of a national emergency warning system of which the ACA could be one of the tools. It is anticipated that Pelmorex may be in a position to resubmit an application to the CRTC by early this summer. b ) On the publicizing of the Weatheradio network

Over the past two years Environment Canada’s Weatheradio network has undergone an extensive recapitalization that has effectively addressed infrastructure rust-out issues. In addition, a major program transformation is under way, as, by the end of this month, all Environment Canada Weatheradio programming will be available in both official languages. The overall Weatheradio communication strategy remains widespread but modest. Printed fact sheets have been produced and distributed through all Environment Canada’s regions. In addition, there are dedicated web pages explaining the Weatheradio service available to Internet users:

http://www.smc.ec.gc.ca/cd/factsheets/wxradio/index_e.cfm

http://www.msc-smc.ec.gc.ca/cd/factsheets/wxradio/index_f.cfm

Note: the Ontario region is undertaking a targeted Weatheradio publicity campaign at two locations, London and Sudbury. Each location will have print and radio ads for a three to four week period promoting the Weatheradio service. The results of the campaign will be evaluated by the end of April to note the overall results and assess if this type of targeted program will be expanded to other sites in the Ontario region. c ) On the development of Internet Push Plus technology

Environment Canada continues to explore the use of Informatics Technology, IT, as a mass dissemination delivery device. There are initiatives under way that will demonstrate the feasibility of pushing the severe weather warnings to important first line responders such as emergency preparedness officials, firefighters, police and other municipal officials. This service will be piloted this year to a select group. The pilot will be followed by a comprehensive review to verify and ensure that all severe weather warnings were delivered in a timely and effective manner. It is imperative that Environment Canada verify that delivery conduits can perform reliably and can ensure the weather warnings can be delivered in a matter of seconds 100% of the time. In the longer term, if technically feasible with the same delivery standards, the service could be expanded to the public if issues regarding the delivery can be guaranteed.

Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission a ) As an independent regulating authority we do not develop and publicize such undertakings. We intervene at the frequency allocation stage and at the distribution level upon application.

We understand that an application is expected for a television all-channel alert but we have not yet received it.

[Questions on the Order Paper, April 8th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 109 and 112.

[Government Response to Petitions, April 8th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to two petitions.

[Fisheries, March 21st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking my hon. colleague from St. John's West for raising this issue today and for bringing this important matter of the state of the Atlantic fishery to the floor of the House.

I know the issue is of concern to many members of the House, particularly those of us from the Atlantic region whose regions were affected by the downturn in the fishery in the early nineties, particularly in the cod stocks. It is clear to many of us that nowhere was that impact more keenly felt than in the hon. member's home province of Newfoundland, although it has been felt in other parts of the country as well.

I have talked to fishermen in the communities of Sambro, Prospect, Terence Bay, West Dover, East Dover, Indian Harbour and other communities in my own riding of Halifax West who rely on the groundfish fishery. They were severely impacted by the moratorium and obviously by what led to the moratorium in 1992, which was the downturn in the groundfish fishery. It was devastating for many individuals. Many people relied directly on fishing for cod and other groundfish species for their income. Overfishing hit them hard. It was very difficult. Some people have not fully recovered yet and are still having a tough time making a living because they relied on that fishery.

My riding was fortunate in many ways because it has a diversified fishery. For example, the lobster fishery has done reasonably well in southwestern Nova Scotia as it has in many parts of the province over the past number of years. It brings in tremendous revenues for people in our province and provides a livelihood for many families, as does other parts of the fishery.

Nevertheless, I do not mean to suggest that the fishery is particularly healthy. The fact is that the downturn in the fishery has had a very negative impact on communities in the Atlantic region.

We have heard in recent weeks about the concerns of people in Canso who have obviously been hit by the downturn. Fifteen to twenty years ago Canso was a tremendously thriving community with lots of people working in the fish plants and on the ships going out to sea. Lots of the resource went into Canso to be processed and the community was thriving.

When the fish stocks were healthy, communities like Canso and so many others, like Trepassey in Newfoundland and many others across Atlantic Canada were thriving and healthy. People were working and bringing home a decent paycheque, certainly not a huge paycheque but at least a modest paycheque. They were feeding, clothing and providing homes for their families. It provided hope to those families and their communities. To have overfishing deplete and destroy so much of the fish stocks off our coast has been devastating to many of those communities as members of the fisheries committee know so well.

In view of the situation we have seen in recent weeks and in view of the situation we have become aware of over the past number of years, particularly in the early nineties with the downturn in the fishery and the impact it has had on the Atlantic region, it was interesting to see what happened this week.

I am sure the people of Canso, who are desperately trying to find some way to get more fish for their community to process, were suprised to hear that off our own coast, just beyond our 200 mile limit, foreign vessels are catching cod, a fish stock that is under moratorium and a fish they agreed under NAFO not to fish.

We know, for example, the Russian ship Olga had 49 tonnes of cod and 9 tonnes of skate on board. I reacted when I heard the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans say those numbers earlier today in the House by saying that was some by-catch. It is unbelievable that could be a by-catch. It clearly was not an attempt by that ship to catch skate. The intention was clear. With the technology available today, ships can identify the kinds of fish they are after and can go after the ones they want.

If the Russian ship had 49 tonnes of cod in its hold and 9 tonnes of skate, it was because it was going out in a directed fishery looking for cod, a fish stock that is under moratorium. It was an outrageous action. I am pleased that the minister has taken action on this matter, particularly in relation to the Faroese ships that have been fishing for shrimp off our coast.

We know that over the course of 2001 and 2002 the Canadian government confronted the Faroese a number of times in relation to their actions in the fishery off our coast. We know that last year the quota for the Faroe Islands fishery off our coast under the NAFO agreement was 67 tonnes of shrimp.

We also know that they fished for over 100 days. I talked to some officials and we know that generally speaking one of the ships takes in 15 to 20 tonnes of shrimp a day. For 100 days at that level there will be a heck of a lot more than 67 tonnes. They are clearly overfishing.

We know they misreport their findings. We know they were supposed to submit observer reports 30 days after each of their trips. In the last two years they have submitted no reports at all. We know they were permitted to have one ship in area 3-L but they had two to three ships at a time. This was clearly a case where the Faroese were not following the rules. I am pleased the minister has taken the step of closing our ports to those Faroe Islands vessels. It was an important step.

We know these ships are fishing beyond our 200 mile limit and that is a problem for us because we are trying to work within international law. I understand the constraints the minister faces because of international law and because it is international law that provides for us the 200 mile limit, which allows us to have management of the stocks within that 200 mile limit. However when we are seeing other countries' ships fishing just beyond that area, on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks, and destroying the same fish that swim back and forth across the line and that are part of our fish stocks, we have to be concerned. I think all Atlantic Canadians are anxious for the government to take whatever actions it can to ensure that the stock is protected.

Let us talk a minute about the Russian ship we know about and the situation with Russian vessels. Perhaps we are just picking on the Faroe Islands and the Russians but I am sure other members will be talking about the ships of other nations, such as the Spanish ships. We are familiar with the history of that and the history of the turbot when Brian Tobin was minister of fisheries.

We know, for example, that we had trouble with the Olga back in December. Those troubles were raised with the Russian government. I have been told by officials that the Russians are responsive. They say that they have taken action on these ships and have fired captains, and yet we see the Olga back again doing the same old thing. How can we believe the Russian authorities when they are telling us that they are actually taking real actions against these vessels or the captains. It is a little hard to believe. We would like to see them take much more effective deterrent action. That is their obligation. They have obligations under NAFO and under the UN fish agreement, of which they are one of the few members of NAFO who have actually signed on.

However, having signed on to it, the Russians ought to follow it, live up to those obligations, control their actions and ensure compliance with the rules of the agreements they have signed. Otherwise, what would be the point of having these agreements and international laws? If there are violations, it is their responsibility to take effective actions to deter those violations.

As I said, we are talking about taking action on the fishing that is going on beyond our 200 mile limit. We are not talking about taking action within our limit. We are not talking about the Canadian zone exactly. That creates an obvious challenge and an obvious problem for the government because it is a situation where, rather than being able to easily enforce these international agreements, we need to rely on negotiation, diplomacy and whatever other tools we can use to persuade, cajole or push these other countries to follow those rules.

The closing of our ports to those ships is an important step in the right direction. I think members on all sides of the House would agree that closing our ports to those ships is a very important step. More can be done but we hope that gets a reaction. Our first hope is that these countries will recognize that they need to have access to our ports. They need to recognize that if their ships cannot get into our ports to get supplies or whatever, it will cause them great problems. They will have to go back to their own countries perhaps or much farther away to get supplies. If it does not work for them, they had better start looking at another way to do this. They had better start looking at following the rules so they can get back into the ports. Let us hope that will work. That is the first step. If it does not work, I hope the government will look at other possibilities and all means possible to bring this to a head and to get a reaction from these countries so that we do not have this problem going on and on.

I think the point to keep in mind here this evening is that the impact of overfishing is an impact that is felt by people, by Canadians in Atlantic Canada particularly who have suffered through a decade or more of a downturn in the fisheries. Especially in Newfoundland, as I mentioned earlier, the impact has been very harsh.

We have seen the recent census in which the population in Newfoundland has declined and in which the population of every province in Atlantic Canada, except Prince Edward Island, has declined. We have to be concerned about that decline. We have to be concerned about why it has happened. It is clear to me that in Newfoundland particularly, the downturn in the fishery is the obvious reason for that decline. We know that in outports all over Newfoundland those communities would have been thriving during the time that the fishery was strong. With the downturn in the fishery, those communities have suffered. People in all those communities and their families have suffered.

I think it is important that we, as members of parliament, remind the government of that, that we remind ourselves of that constantly and that we keep mindful of that fact. That is why we are talking about this issue. That is why it is important. That is why it is important that the government take whatever actions it can to ensure that our fish stocks are protected.

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 21st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[Government Response to Petitions, March 21st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to one petition.

[Motions for Papers, March 20th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all other Notices of Motions for the Production of Papers be allowed to stand.

[Motions for Papers, March 20th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, Notice of Motion for the Production of Papers No. P-36 in the name of the hon. member for Saskatoon--Humboldt is acceptable to the government and the documents will be tabled immediately.

That a humble Address be presented to Her Excellency praying that she will cause to be laid before this House a copy of all documentation related to the sale of federal lands in the province of Quebec by the Canada Lands Corporation between 1997 and 2001.

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 20th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.