Scott Simms

[The Budget, May 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to the member. On the sports issue, I am always a little puzzled when the Conservatives talk about how this is a substantial savings for many of our young athletes. In my riding the athletes have to pay so much money for travel and equipment. All the Conservatives have come up with is a paltry sum of less than $100, yet they trumpet it as some major accomplishment for our young athletes, which in essence it is not.

My question pertains to a very special issue in the member's province. If the member is hearing so much from his constituents, then he must be hearing about the issue of EI and seasonal work.

This is just as important for Newfoundland as it is for Quebec's east coast.

Seasonal work is a huge issue. Why were seasonal workers ignored in this budget? Where are the EI reforms that were initiated by the Liberals? Why are these reforms not being continued? They have been quashed completely for the industries of rural Quebec. Why does the hon. member not stand up for rural Quebec?

[Atlantic Accord, May 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance uses the Atlantic accord as an example of something that is wrong within the Canadian federation. Is he telling us that what is fair in Atlantic Canada is not fair for the rest of Canada?

My question is for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, yes, my hon. colleague from Newfoundland and Labrador. Will he stand up for his province, take off the muzzle and tell the Minister of Finance that he is dead wrong, that the Atlantic accord is fair for Newfoundland and Labrador and it is fair for Nova Scotia?

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, April 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the Minister of Transport on his recent election.

He talked about his local riding of Pontiac, about economic self-sufficiency and how he plans to prosper in his riding.

In our province and across many smaller communities one of the great programs that has been implemented over the past few years is the port divestiture program. Would the minister tell us the status on that, given the fact that the program ended on March 31 and many of these communities are now hanging on the fate of this program to achieve economic self-sufficiency? Would the minister please bring this matter to the House?

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, April 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague on his election to the House, but I would like to make a few comments about the speech itself.

When he talks about long ignored, long ignored and long ignored, I would like to point out something that was very much ignored. My hon. colleague from Prince Edward Island talked about how there was very little in this throne speech regarding the agricultural world. I can point out even less that was said about the fishery. As a matter of fact, I will even go further and say there was nothing, other than to point out that the oceans provide a vital resource, which is an incredible flash of brilliance that has been talked about very much.

I would like the hon. member to address the situation in the fishery. As recently as a few days ago, in the Atlantic snow crab industry, our fishermen went back out on the water. In a situation where prices are low and the resources are not as plentiful as they used to be, the question becomes management. One of the grave concerns in the fishery is about local management and more local say, something that was talked about very much by the current Minister of Fisheries and Oceans from Newfoundland and Labrador.

I would like my hon. colleague to address this situation. Perhaps he would like to give us some vision on what the government sees for the fishery. I am not sure whether the throne speech, all 12 pages, was written by the government or Robert Munsch. It was very cute, but very small on detail, especially regarding the fishery where there was virtually nothing.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, April 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the hon. member opposite.

I have a question concerning the issue of our smaller communities. She seems to be quite a strong advocate for our communities and I commend her for that.

In my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador we have a problem in our smaller communities when it comes to sustaining employment. What we need is, yes, more money into post-secondary education but also EI reforms. I am sure this issue is not a stranger to her or her riding. Employment insurance reforms help sustain our smaller communities and we have seen little compassion from the current government for this. It is necessary for small communities that rely so heavily on seasonal employment.

This is not just for the benefit of Newfoundland and Labrador, but also for Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and—this is important—for Quebec as well.

Could the member tell me about seasonal work in her riding and her province, and how EI reforms are so necessary?

[Fisheries and Oceans, November 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, today is World Fisheries Day, and this is a resource that feeds millions of people around the world each and every day. However, more than 70% of the world's resources of fisheries are fully exploited or depleted.

More than a year ago the government embarked on a strategy to combat illegal overfishing on the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Could the minister please update the House on this initiative?

[Supply, November 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I must admit I wholeheartedly agree with the beginning of the member's speech when she stated that this is a very unusual motion. Indeed, it is very unusual. Unfortunately, the whole thing went downhill from there.

A case in point, the member illustrated her point by saying that the government likes to make commitments toward health care, but later on finally takes some action. What exactly is the motion? It says that the NDP does not have any confidence in government so it should be dissolved, but not now, later. Once again, the logic is absolutely absent. I have always thought of the New Democratic Party as being completely divorced from logic and now that has been proven quite clearly.

My question pertains to another comment the hon. member made. She referred to the second Gomery report, for which she is waiting. The Prime Minister committed to calling the election within 30 days of the Gomery report. Why does she not just wait? She should follow her own advice and do that for the spring election.

This particular motion is absolutely devoid of any logic and is not clear at all.

[Remote Sensing Space Systems Act, October 4th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, there is a role. RADARSAT had proven itself in its original genesis, as I mentioned before, in many respects when it comes to image sensing. Imagine sensing can be used in many ways covering many industries, of course, such as sea temperature change and weather patterns.

I will give a specific example. Let us talk about the hurricane that my hon. colleague spoke of. A hurricane needs for its energy, of course, is very warm water. The sea temperatures are rising in parts of eastern Nova Scotia, as well as eastern Newfoundland, which explains the major hurricane suffered by Halifax many years ago. It was misdiagnosed perhaps, if I could borrow that phrase. One of the reasons was that the sea temperature was higher than anticipated and the hurricane maintained its strength as it slammed into the coast.

What this image sensing technology does is allow us to be far keener of the climatic situations that we have, such as the east coast of Nova Scotia or the east coast of Newfoundland. It also affects populations of fish, which is a major issue each and every day on the northeast coast of Newfoundland, and it will continue to be so. One of the ramifications of this is that recently there have been declining populations in many fish species. Does it have something to do with the rising temperature in the water? Some scientists would say yes, some would say no. Nonetheless, the debate is there.

Thanks to this image sensing technology, we now have a clearer picture of this debate. We can put this issue to rest and as a result take action. Is it overfishing or is it the temperature of the oceans? That debate will continue and opinions will be expressed, but certainly we will get a far clearer picture with this type of technology than we ever did. Again, I would urge all colleagues to support this bill and put us into the next decade.

[Remote Sensing Space Systems Act, October 4th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, this is certainly of grave concern to us all.

Let me just address one more time what I outlined earlier, and I will repeat this for the benefit of the hon. member. Under present policy guidelines which were set out in cabinet in 1986, Canada closely controls the export of military goods and technology. Once again, let me just run down the four that we have here.

First, countries which pose a threat to Canada and its allies included. Second, countries involved in or under imminent threat of hostilities. Third, countries under United Nations Security Council sanctions; or fourth, countries whose governments have a persistent record of serious violations of the human rights of their citizens, unless it can be demonstrated that there is no reasonable risk that the goods might be used against the civilian population.

I agree that these concerns have been addressed within this legislation.

[Remote Sensing Space Systems Act, October 4th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Privacy Commissioner certainly has given his blessing to this one.

Just to add more information, the government met with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner prior to tabling this legislation and it had no recommendations for provisions dealing with privacy rights. Technology by itself is neutral in terms of privacy. However, the technology used may raise privacy concerns, that we understand. It is in this use that privacy safeguards must be applied, and these safeguards already exist in our own privacy laws.

In this case, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Privacy Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act continue to apply even when a licence is issued.