Wayne Easter

[Child Benefit, March 26th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am most pleased to respond to the member for Calgary—Nose Hill.

The member could not be farther off base when she says this government has done nothing. This government has done much and is continuing to do more. As she will see in my answer, this is what we intend to do.

The government is committed to making the public pension system sustainable so that it will be there for future generations of Canadians at an affordable cost.

The proposed seniors benefit will slow the future growth in public pension costs by targeting benefits to the low and middle income seniors who need the benefits the most.

Last fall we took time to consult extensively with seniors groups, social groups and pension industry experts on the proposed seniors benefit. Meetings were held from Halifax to Vancouver. We listened carefully to the issues that were raised and the concerns that were expressed.

The government is currently reviewing the 1996 proposal in light of those consultations in order to ensure that the best possible policy is brought forward. We expect to bring forward legislation in the coming months. When legislation is introduced in the House, there will be further opportunity for public input during parliamentary committee hearings.

The government is committed to moving forward with the seniors benefit. It is vital that we ensure public pensions are there for those who need them.

[Child Benefit, March 26th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the incident that occurred last December in Little Grand Rapids was tragic.

We all know that despite the difficulties that were encountered as a result of the bad weather at the time lives were saved. Everyone who contributed to the rescue, including the RCMP, the Canadian forces and the local community of Little Grand Rapids, should be applauded for their efforts.

Now the hon. member has asked why the Canadian forces did not hire a civilian aircraft to assist with the rescue. As the hon. member knows, poor weather conditions were a key factor in this rescue. Immediately after the Canadian forces were notified of the accident a hercules aircraft from Winnipeg and a Labrador helicopter from Trenton were tasked to proceed to the site of the accident. The hercules aircraft was airborne with nine search and rescue technicians on board but poor weather hampered its ability to land immediately in Little Grand Rapids. Nevertheless, it circled the area in the hope that the weather would clear and it could land.

Despite the poor weather the Canadian forces did manage to deliver much needed medical supplies by parachute which offered some relief to those involved in the rescue. Due to time, distance and weather conditions, the Labrador helicopter in Trenton was stood down and two griffon helicopters from Cold Lake were tasked to proceed to the site. Unfortunately they were unable to make it due to bad weather. A Labrador helicopter and a second hercules aircraft remained on standby in Trenton ready for immediate take off if needed.

The Canadian forces did what they could to assist with the rescue. The Canadian forces decided not to hire a civilian aircraft to assist with the rescue because the crew of the hercules had advised that the weather conditions at Little Grand Rapids were severe and that a helicopter would have extreme difficulty flying into the site. In other words, the Canadian forces determined that to send a civilian helicopter into the area would have placed the helicopter and its crew at undue risk.

In the end, under the circumstances Canadian forces search and rescue personnel did everything they could in order to save lives.

[Division No. 118, March 25th, 1998]

Madam Speaker, I will try to be very concise.

I am disappointed that the member is trying to allege favouritism because of one individual who works for the minister. The minister is very fortunate to have individuals within his ranks who have experience in the fishery. That is what we need in the fishery.

On the issue of Langara Island at the north end of the Queen Charlotte Islands, disputes between the recreational sector and the commercial seiners and trawlers have been an issue since the mid 1980s. It began with the growth of the chinook recreational fishery in the area and more recently these gear conflicts intensified. There is competition for the fishing area by the various groups, particularly for the relatively sheltered spots. Seine fishers because of the use of beach tie-offs and the size of the net interfere with or displace the significantly smaller recreational vessels. Similarly, fishing patterns of trawlers also may conflict with recreational fishers.

I stress that the primary focus of the Langara Island issue is not about conservation. It is about the desire of the different sectors to fish in the same area and the inherent incompatibility of these gears to co-exist in that same area. A small area around Langara Island is closed to commercial salmon trawlers early in the season to slow the catch rate of the chinook salmon. This is intended to ensure trawlers have a longer season and to minimize gear conflicts. This area around Langara Island referred to as a chinook red line boundary is less than seven and a half miles—

[The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, as I clearly said earlier, the minister will respond to the specifics of the recommendations in this report at a later date.

Again I have to spell out to the member that there are certain international obligations. If we kick out the foreign fleets we will lose the leverage to influence the decision to protect world fish stocks in a sustainable fashion. There are, in fact, thousands of workers who depend on the fish that are caught by those foreign fleets for processing jobs in Canada. We do not want to destroy those jobs.

[The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, the minister will respond to the specifics of the report in due time.

We have to abide by international obligations. If we were to kick the foreign fleets out tomorrow we would destroy thousands of jobs in Nova Scotia and I am certain the member does not want that. We have already been offering fish to Canadians first.

[Fisheries, March 24th, 1998]

The member could not be further from the truth, Mr. Speaker. If you look at the report and read it, you will see a supplementary opinion and a number of members decided that rather than get into this witch hunting that you seem to be promoting we wanted to move forward—

[Fisheries, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the minister when he comes back to Ottawa will certainly be reviewing this report and responding at an appropriate time.

I can say one thing for certain. The minister is not going to get into finger pointing and witch-hunting. He will be wanting to develop things forward in a positive fashion for the future.

[Fisheries, March 23rd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has talked many times in the House about Canadianizing the fishery.

We on this side of the House recognize that we have many international obligations in terms of our discussions with foreign countries as well.

We are trying to move forward on an international basis. At the same time the minister has made it very clear that where possible, where fish are not surplus to our needs, we will Canadianize the fisheries.

[Fisheries, March 23rd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, certainly the minister did not instruct his officials not to lay charges. The member should be congratulating us on the in depth analysis of those observer reports which show some irregularities but not necessarily violations of our regulations.

DFO has investigated all those irregularities and if in places the law had been broken they would have been charged, but they did not find the law had been broken.

[Fisheries, March 23rd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, we will certainly not get into the finger pointing and witch-hunting members opposite want to get into.

We on this side of the House want to be proactive in moving forward and building a system of trust that we can build on for the future so that we have a fishery of the future that communities and people can depend on.