Peter Stoffer

[Special Debate, October 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Vancouver Quadra mentioned that in terms of long term solutions the executive legislature and the judiciary of the supreme court should get together to work toward solutions or come up with definitive reasoning for long term solutions not only in this particular instance but in other instances.

Would the hon. member from the Bloc agree that there needs to be a joint effort between the elected officials of parliament who represent Canada and the supreme court to come to reasonable conclusions in this particular instance?

[Special Debate, October 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask my hon. colleague who sits on the fisheries committee, who is from the beautiful area of the Gaspé, one very simple question.

Prior to my colleague's speech we heard the speech of a member of the Liberal Party, the governing party, and I am singing hallelujah for this. They have finally recognized and are starting to believe exactly what the auditor general said last April, that shellfish stocks, mainly lobsters, are in trouble. This was back in April, long before the Marshall decision was rendered.

Who does the member think is responsible for the downturn in the lobster fishery which the auditor general pointed out and which DFO itself still does not recognize as a very serious problem in Atlantic Canada?

[Special Debate, October 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the comments of the member for Skeena and the fact that he believes there are enough constitutional lawyers, enough legal opinions and enough bureaucrats in Ottawa to help find some sort of solution to this problem.

Would the member not agree with me that the real solution to this issue probably lies in the fishermen themselves and in the coastal communities of Atlantic Canada? In the last 26 days that this decision has been rendered, we have heard time and time again that the aboriginal people and non-aboriginal people have been getting together to come up with short term and then long term solutions for the long term viability and conservation minded aspects of the fishery. The problem of course is that the government is not giving any human or financial resources to aid those people in their consultations.

Would the member not agree that a better solution to this would be from the ground up instead of the top down?

[Special Debate, October 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for the hon. member and the area from which she comes. If the member believes that this minister is doing such a fine job, then would she not try to convince her minister, because the people's perception of politics is their reality, and the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to get out of Ottawa, to get down to the maritime region and to deal with this issue firsthand, instead of dealing with it by long distance from Ottawa? Would the member not make that suggestion to her minister and make it an imperative motion for him to get down there immediately to deal with this issue?

[Special Debate, October 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for West Nova for his remarks with regard to his fishermen. As I mentioned to his colleague from the south shore, I have been dealing exclusively with people in fishing and representatives in that area.

The one thing I would like to add is that he is correct that we need immediate action from the minister. Would he not agree that with the recent decision by the aboriginal chiefs in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to lift the moratorium it would be a very wise idea for the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to get on an airplane and head down to that area to deal with the issue immediately?

[Special Debate, October 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the concern of the member from the south shore of my beautiful province of Nova Scotia. Many of the fishermen in these communities we are talking about are in his riding.

I have spent an awful lot of time on the phone in the last few days talking to fishermen and representatives in the hon. member's riding. A lot of them have said that possibly for the short term in terms of a solution to incorporate the aboriginal people into the fishery is a sort of voluntary buy-back program. There are 6,300 licences in the maritime provinces right now that incorporate lobster fishing. Of those, roughly 10% belong to people who would voluntarily exit the industry if they got a decent price for their licences.

Would the hon. member not agree that could be a short term solution as we work toward a long term goal? The government could purchase these licences, transfer them over to the Mi'kmaw nation and everyone could fish under the same conservation guidelines.

[Special Debate, October 13th, 1999]

Madam Speaker, would my colleague from the Bloc Quebecois not agree that because of the void in leadership in past Conservative governments and the current Liberal government the current government must allocate financial and human resources? The real leadership in this crisis will come from the grassroots. The fishermen themselves and their communities will come up with short and long term solutions to the very serious crisis we now face in Atlantic Canada.

Would my hon. colleague not agree that the government must provide immediately the human and financial resources to help solve this problem?

[Special Debate, October 13th, 1999]

Madam Speaker, I welcome the brand new Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to the portfolio. I was glad to hear him tell the House and all Canadians listening that it is indeed better to negotiate than it is to litigate.

We know the historical aspect. The previous Conservative government and the current Liberal government told the aboriginal people “Take your cases to court”. In the Bay of Fundy region, District 35 opens up its commercial offshore season tomorrow. The Bay of Fundy inshore fishermen are working very closely with the aboriginal people to come up with a long term solution. The problem is, they are doing it on their own with no help at all from DFO officials.

Will the minister commit the necessary human and financial resources to aid those people in their co-operative effort toward a long term solution?

[Fisheries, October 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, in light of the Marshall decision the severe lack of leadership has caused a devastating effect among the lobster fishermen in my home province of Nova Scotia.

Let us note the date. Tomorrow area 35 of the Bay of Fundy opens up to commercial fishery and Bay of Fundy inshore fishermen and the aboriginal people are working together toward a co-operative solution. Unfortunately they are doing it on their own.

Will the minister commit the necessary resources to help the Bay of Fundy inshore fishermen reach a co-operative settlement with aboriginal people for the future of the lobster fishery?

[Fisheries And Oceans, June 7th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the minister signed a 10 year deal. The $209 million the minister is bragging about is only money that goes into an endowment fund. Only the money gained on interest from that money will be spent on any habitat programs over a four year period. Four of the jurisdictions are American and one is Canadian.

I ask the parliamentary secretary, why did you sell out thousands of jobs and get rid of millions of pounds of fish for American pennies?