John Duncan

[Lobster Fishery, June 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to working with the Atlantic provinces, Quebec and harvester and processor associations to address this issue and others, in part through the creation of a new lobster council. We are committed to the long-term success of the lobster industry. That is why we invested $10 million last month in a marketing initiative, and we will assist the industry through Canada's economic action plan.

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2009]

Madam Chair, would the minister care to highlight the announcement of last Friday at Capilano that benefited west coast fisheries?

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2009]

Madam Chair, the integrated groundfishery on the west coast is now in year four. Implemented in 2006, this fishery is being called the most sustainable commercial fishery in the world. Would the minister care to highlight the importance of adopting the changes that have been made to the groundfishery on the west coast to achieve such high praise from other nations, conservation groups and consumer advocates and interests?

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2009]

Madam Chair, DFO's scientific laboratories and facilities across the country do important work to support the department's mandate. The work being done by DFO scientists is truly world class. This is exemplified best by the top-tier recognition they receive, for example, the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

In addition to the scientific research being done as well as the day-to-day conservation and protection efforts carried out by the department, what is DFO doing to ensure that our oceans and their resources are sustainably managed?

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2009]

Madam Chair, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans plays an important role in protecting our nation's waterways and aquatic ecosystems. DFO is working hard to advance Canada's interests in these areas through scientific research and making sound decisions and policies based on science.

An important part of the department's work is understanding Canada's unique aquatic environments and how our actions affect them. DFO depends on its scientific institutes, labs and centres of expertise for vital information to make the decisions that are both environmentally sound and economically prosperous.

I will now talk about science at DFO, as well as how the department puts science to use. DFO-led scientific research is continuing to make strides in understanding our oceans and freshwaters, from locating natural resources to identifying areas that need special protection, such as the department's work with provincial and territorial partners in our marine protected areas.

Our government has made strides in this work through the announcement of marine protected areas, including Bowie Seamount in the Pacific and Musquash Estuary off the coast of New Brunswick. Facilities such as the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, the Pacific Biological Station and the Maurice Lamontagne Institute play an integral role in the department's work. The data they produce creates the groundwork for DFO's policies and regulations. They are essential for the department's ability to deliver results for Canadians.

Scientists are an integral part of DFO but they are also a part of the broader scientific community. Scientists around the world share a commitment to advancing our understanding of the world around us and DFO scientists regularly receive international accolades.

Along with fostering scientific knowledge and supporting effective policies, the research conducted by DFO can lead to successful commercial applications. For example, DFO scientists contributed to the development of the autonomous underwater recorder for acoustic learning. This tool monitors and records underwater sounds, including the sounds of marine mammals and the noise generated by marine traffic. This was commercialized and generated enough sales in the first two years to repay the initial investment tenfold.

Further, the department's science and resource experts are working on the elaboration of DFO's plan for sustainable fisheries. Building on these policies and incorporating new ones, DFO's plan forms the basis for implementing an approach to the management of our marine fisheries that focuses on ecosystems. This ensures a sound basis for sustainable fisheries management in Canada.

One important organization that calls DFO home is the Canadian Hydrographic Service. Canada has more than 130,000 nautical miles of coastline, which is more than any other country in the world. With 300 dedicated employees distributed across Canada, this service publishes and maintains nearly 1,000 nautical charts, as well as hundreds of publications. It gives our government great pride to say these products are renowned the world over for their quality.

The data collected by the service is essential to understanding our waters. With access to Canadian Coast Guard ships, the service takes advantage of every opportunity to take hydrographic and oceanographic measurements. Regular field surveys, especially for higher risk, higher priority areas, with both shore parties and marine vessels, include specialized hydrographic craft.

Most recently, the service completed surveys of the deeply complex Labrador inshore route. This was a significant accomplishment and the CHS employees deserve our congratulations for their fine work.

The Canadian Hydrographic Service contributes to the safe navigation of Canada's waterways and uses the latest technology to collect high-resolution data. The service monitors tides and water levels to collect information on our climate and natural hazards, and plays a role in determining maritime boundaries and Canadian sovereignty.

While it is important to continue pressing forward in our understanding of our aquatic resources, we must also work to conserve and protect them. One way to do this is by upholding the legislation and regulations that set the rules for the wild capture fishing industry.

DFO takes these rules seriously. In fact, Canada has one of the most advanced monitoring, control and surveillance programs in the world. To enforce compliance and preserve fish stocks, DFO uses aerial and at-sea patrols to monitor fishing vessel activity inside and outside our 200 mile limit. We track catches using independent onboard observers, as well as electronic and dock-side monitoring.

These enforcement systems are important, but of course they require personnel. We have world-class fisheries officers who go through a three year training program. They are the front line. They conduct patrols on the land, on the sea and in the air. They work in every kind of weather, in rough terrain, on sea, and board vessels in dangerous conditions. These officers are protecting the interests of Canadians and helping advance key priorities, such as eliminating illegal fishing activities and demonstrating the importance of conservation and protection.

DFO has hired 153 new fisheries officers in the last three years. This hiring is an expansion and a significant improvement made by the Conservative government, which reverses a trend that existed under the previous Liberal government that allowed the number of fisheries officers to shrink. This government understands the importance of proper enforcement in our Canadian waters and we are taking this responsibility seriously.

DFO's scientific research and conservation and protection efforts play an important role in managing our waters and resources. Our government knows they are an important part of Canadian identity. We work together with other levels of government, partner with industry and organizations, preserve and protect our ocean and freshwater, and encourage the sustainability of fisheries.

We will maintain DFO's position as a leader in science and continue using the knowledge gained from our research to inform decisions and policies so that we can continue to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of our children and grandchildren to meet their own needs.

I would like to conclude by talking about a very sustainable fishery in my own backyard, which is the integrated ground fishery on the west coast. It is considered to be a sustainably managed, transparent, accountable and progressive fishery. This was implemented in 2006 and we are into year four now. The world has noticed the camera monitored, dock-side observer and independent audit within a scientifically determined total allowable catch. The transferable quota mechanisms that are now built into this fishery create total accountability, eliminate the old problem of discards and allow for an extended season so that the commercial boats can harvest at opportune times chosen by them, which has led to higher value production.

Canadians should be very proud of this fishery which was implemented and is now considered to be the most sustainably managed commercial fishery anywhere in the world.

We do not blow our own horn enough, and I am attempting to do just that.

I hope my speech in some way has made it clearer to members about how the department uses science and conservation and protection efforts to support the Conservative government's vision for fisheries.

Canada's coastline is vast and diverse, from the Pacific shoreline of rugged mountains, inlets and fjords, to the Arctic's complex food web and habitats, to the wide continental shelf of the Atlantic.

There is a piece of legislation that is key to governing our oceans. It is known as the Oceans Act. Could the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans share how this government is implementing the Oceans Act?

[Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act, May 26th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the speech of the NDP aboriginal affairs critic with interest.

During questions and comments we heard the member talk about the process that was used for Bill C-28, the Cree-Naskapi act, in terms of consultation and so on. We also heard very similar comments from the opposition parties in terms of how Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Indian Oil and Gas Act was developed. That Act received royal assent in the last two weeks.

I would like to point out that Bill C-8, which is the bill dealing with matrimonial property issues, was also developed in a very consultative approach. The drafting of the bill was done with two major national aboriginal organizations very much participating; that would be the Assembly of First Nations and the Native Women's Association of Canada. Therefore, it is not a case of black and white on consultation or no consultation. This is a very difficult area when we have 630 first nations across the country.

I would like to invite the member to comment on this.

[Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act, May 26th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I believe we are all on the same page. It is a pleasure to speak to the third reading of Bill C-28. Certainly, it is no mystery by now why I support this bill, nor why the hon. members of the House have united to ensure that this bill passes.

Bill C-28 begins a new chapter in one of the country's great aboriginal success stories: the story of the Cree of Eeyou Istchee. For hundreds of years, the Cree peoples of the eastern James Bay and southern Hudson Bay region of northern Quebec have effectively protected their environment, managed their natural resources, and preserved the cultural legacy of their communities. For decades, the Cree of Eeyou Istchee have used the provisions in the James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement to start their own airline, establish a thriving construction company, and open many flourishing small businesses.

Most recently, the Cree of Eeyou Istchee have engaged in ongoing consultations with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, embraced genuine partnership with the Government of Canada, and co-signed the 2008 new relationship agreement document. These are the achievements I would like to focus on today.

For those not familiar with the new relationship agreement, allow me to explain a few important facts about this document. The new relationship agreement is a landmark agreement between the Government of Canada and the Cree of Eeyou Istchee. It is a historic consensus that gets at the heart of what it takes to build strong communities. It resolves past grievances. It fosters social and economic development. It empowers people to determine their own destinies.

More specifically, the new relationship agreement ends litigation initiated by the Cree of Eeyou Istchee against the federal government, devolves specific federal responsibilities to the nine Cree communities of the eastern James Bay and southern Hudson Bay region, and provides for amendments to the Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act to enable the Cree regional authority to enact bylaws that will apply throughout the region.

Significantly, the new relationship agreement does all of this with the full support of the Cree of Eeyou Istchee. Voicing their opinions in referendum, more than 90% of the beneficiaries who voted in the nine affected communities endorsed the agreement. They voted to end years of contention and uncertainty, and to embrace a sincere partnership with the Government of Canada.

Bill C-28 fulfills two key aspects of the agreement. First, it will equip the Cree regional authority with additional responsibilities and powers, including bylaw-making powers, so that the Cree regional authority will be better able to carry out certain specified responsibilities that were assumed from the federal government under the James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement.

Bill C-28 also sets the stage for the negotiation of a Cree nation governance agreement that will establish a new Cree nation government. As the Cree of Eeyou Istchee noted in their presentation to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, this bill constitutes “another step in the evolution of Cree governance structures and responsibilities”.

Second, it will incorporate the Cree of Oujé-Bougoumou as the ninth Cree band. This is a fulfillment of the 1992 Ouje-Bougoumou/Canada Agreement, under which the Government of Canada agreed to recognize the Cree of Oujé-Bougoumou as the ninth Cree band and to contribute financially toward the creation of a new village at Lake Opemiska.

In the words of Mr. Richard Saunders, who represented the Cree-Naskapi Commission before the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, this is both “a symbolic and housekeeping amendment”. It is one that acknowledges the local government and administration of a distinct people not named in the James Bay and Northern Quebec agreement.

In short, Bill C-28 fulfills two key aspects of the new relationship agreement that would enable all of us, the Cree of Eeyou Istchee and the Government of Canada, to place our focus squarely on the future. It is a bill that dwells not on recriminations of the past but on opportunities in the present and future. It is a bill that honours the spirit of partnership and collaboration inherent in the new relationship agreement.

Throughout the bill's development, from the initial outline to the version before us today, the Cree of Eeyou Istchee have been extensively consulted. They have helped ensure the bill meets the real needs of the Cree communities of northern Quebec. They have advised the government on necessary changes and they have contributed at key stages of the legislative process.

Due in no small part to the Cree's involvement, members of the House now have the opportunity to truly serve the Cree people who live in the James Bay and southern Hudson Bay region to give them the authority to: enforce strict water quality standards; to maintain meticulous accounting practices and guarantee that people in positions of power are held accountable for their use of community funds; and to ensure more responsive police and firefighting services and make certain that all residents in crises get the emergency help they need.

This is an opportunity to encourage continued dialogue between the Government of Canada and the Cree of Eeyou Istchee and to ensure that our nation's laws benefit the people most affected by them.

This is our time to seize these opportunities. Let us help honour the commitments the Government of Canada made to the Cree people of northern Quebec in the new relationship agreement.

We are ready to heed the words of Richard Saunders, Philip Awashish and Robert Kanatewat who travelled to Ottawa on behalf of the Cree of Eeyou Istchee to outline their support for the bill when they appeared before the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development just a short time ago.

Passage of the bill would enable the Cree of Eeyou Istchee to pave the way to a brighter and more prosperous future for their communities.

As we heard earlier in the House and again at committee, all parties in the House support the bill. There is no one who does not wish to establish a new relationship based on trust, fairness and mutual respect. There is no one who does not wish to welcome the nine Cree communities in northern Quebec into the political, social and economic conversations that will shape the future of Canada.

I know that is why my colleagues will welcome the opportunity, as I do, to vote in favour of this important legislation, to vote in favour of helping thousands of proud, resourceful, ambitious people in nine remote communities in northern Quebec to embark on a prosperous future and on a path to a new tomorrow for us all.

[Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act, May 26th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I assume we are debating Bill C-28, Cree-Naskapi.

[Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act, May 15th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Mississauga South has once again demonstrated that the Liberals have lost total sight of the objective of the bill.

We have three Conservative members on the aboriginal affairs committee who have an extensive number of reserves in their ridings. We are not naive. The member for Kenora has about 50 first nations in his riding. My riding has about 24 reserves. The member for Desnethé--Missinippi--Churchill River has many reserves in his riding and has done policing on reserves.

The legislation was shared in draft form, in the same way the government was complimented yesterday in terms of the Cree-Naskapi act development, which sailed through committee.

Yesterday the Liberal Party wrote in its communiqué that Bill C-8 mandated that verification officers play an active role in the development and approval of local matrimonial real property regimes and that was a complaint of the AFN. This is wrong. The verification officers are only responsible for determining whether the community approval and ratification processes are held in accordance with the proposed legislation.

Would the hon. member care to comment on these statements?

[Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act, May 15th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we need consistency here. The Assembly of First Nations and the Liberal Party opposed the Canadian Human Rights Act amendments in the last Parliament. There was considerable consultation. Our expectation was that the Liberals would join with the other opposition parties to pass the bill at second reading so we could do something useful. I am just amazed at the change--