Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I think my hon. colleague is in a different time zone than I am. I am on Newfoundland time, which is an hour and a half behind. The red flag clause in the bill is a great clause, and I agree with the member.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to stand here this evening to speak to Bill C-21, an act to amend certain acts and to make certain consequential amendments (firearms). Certain elements of this bill are good and Conservatives, as always, will support common-sense gun laws that target criminals and gangs. We are the party that is focused on protecting victims of crime. Earlier today, this side of the Ho…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I truly appreciate my hon. colleague's question. I know her heart is in the right place, and she is a good person. In London, every year now we are looking at between 400 and 600 acid attacks. If criminals cannot access their illegal guns, they find a way. There are knives, and there are cube vans. Legally purchased firearms by law-abiding citizens are not the problem. The governmen…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I really enjoy my colleague's speeches in the House, and I find her to be very knowledgeable on the topics that she speaks on. On Bay du Nord, we are not quite on the same page, but I agree with her 100% that we need to target criminals who access illegal guns, and gangs, etc. The real problem is not law-abiding gun owners, responsible taxpaying, God-fearing Canadian citizens who ma…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I request a recorded division.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for engaging in this very important debate on the future of balance and biodiversity in our ocean ecosystems and the impact that it has on the coastal and indigenous groups who rely on them. Since the 1970s, pinniped populations have risen exponentially on the east and west coasts of Canada as harvesting virtually ended. The indigenous communities that relied o…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, flying the provincial flag at half-mast in Newfoundland and Labrador on June 5 had an extra special meaning, as this was the day we lost its creator: Mr. Christopher Pratt. Mr. Pratt was a proud Newfoundlander and Labradorian, an artist, one of Canada’s prominent painters and print makers, and the designer of our Newfoundland and Labrador flag. He will be sorely missed. Born in St. Jo…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, Canada is part of a coalition. We are in NATO, we support each other and we have a commitment to live up to. I am sure my hon. colleague understands what it is like to be committed in a coalition as her party supports the minority Liberal government. If we do not support our NATO partners and if the NDP does not support the Liberals, what does she think would happen to it all?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I think my hon. colleague might have forgotten to mention that he is splitting his time.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Conservation and Protection Program, broken down by year since 2015: (a) how many charges, citations, or other type of enforcement action were taken through the program, broken down by type of enforcement action (criminal charges, ticket, etc.), and by type of illegal activity (fishing without a license, illegally caught species, multiple charges, etc.)…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, mackerel fishers have reported changing sizes and spawning locations and have asked to be involved in science, to no avail. I would like to ask the minister why.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, could the minister please explain why the cod survey was not completed this year?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, does the minister consider it important to know what is happening with the cod biomass?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, that is wonderful. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the northern cod moratorium in Atlantic Canada. Why was the annual northern cod survey not completed this year?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, could the hon. minister tell us how her background in planting trees prepared her to be the Minister of Fisheries?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I do not need coaching when it comes to the fishery, especially from a man from the islands near Lake Ontario. Could the minister please explain—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the fishing industry is sick and tired of the lack of respect shown to it by the government. With the season now upon them, fishers in Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame and in all of Newfoundland and Labrador are wondering where the capelin management plan is. DFO's own science says that seals consume 99 times more capelin than fishermen harvest. This year, the assessment did not happe…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, in the minister's first appearance at the fisheries committee, the minister referenced unbiased science. Is science provided by ENGOs biased or unbiased?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, given changing environmental conditions, does DFO plan to modify the geographic parameters around scientific stock assessments?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, one DFO official recently said that mackerel do not have swim bladders, and as such they cannot be found acoustically. If this is true, how do fishers know where to set their seine?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, does Canadian science rely as heavily on acoustic surveys as other North Atlantic countries, such as Norway and Iceland?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, the minister has a responsibility to harvesters. Capelin will show up any day in 4R. When will they see a management plan?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, if we did not have a vessel on the ocean in the past year doing the capelin survey, where did the science come from?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I guess DFO could not charter a private vessel to go out and do the trial surveys for capelin and cod. What science was the minister referring to today when she was referencing capelin in question period?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, we have heard a lot of non-coastal MPs speak here tonight. I am happy to be a coastal MP and ask some questions, and I am proud to be a former fishing captain. In the minister's first appearance before the fisheries committee, she explained how her experience in the tree planting business prepared her well to be the Minister of Fisheries. Many people in the industry found this to be a b…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, it was interesting to hear the member for Milton, Ontario speak. I am wondering if the minister can let us know if the Kelso conservation area pond is being considered for an MPA.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, based on DFO surveys, fishing zone 4R has a growing shrimp biomass. Why was the quota cut this year?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, does DFO consider shrimp to be a forage fish for the exploding Gulf of St. Lawrence redfish biomass?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, shrimp fetch as much as $2 a pound. Redfish may fetch one-fifth of that price. Therefore, what sense does it make to stop fishing shrimp in order to grow a less valuable species like redfish?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, DFO often references consultations with external scientists. Can the minister tell us which external groups or environmental non-government agencies, ENGOs, these scientists belong to?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, what does influence stock management decisions?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, would the minister agree that these ENGOs have a predetermined agenda in some cases?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I guess there is just one science. It is all objective. That is wonderful. If the minister were a fish harvester, and her livelihood and investment were at the mercy of ENGOs with agendas to end commercial fishing, can she tell us how she would feel?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, the people in the fishing industry feel that they are left in the dark in Newfoundland and Labrador when it comes to proposed MPAs. Weeks ago, I asked for a map of proposed new MPAs, and I am still waiting for it. Why is the minister's department not being transparent about its plans for MPAs?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, the “30 by 30” MPA policy is DFO's goal to protect all aspects of biodiversity within those MPAs: yes or no?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, pinnipeds consume 24 times more fish than are caught by harvesters in Atlantic Canada each year. What is the plan to keep those MPAs from becoming buffets for seals?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I appreciate the minister's gracious invitation. Does the minister know how much more productive Norway's oceans are than ours?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, Norway's oceans are 7.5 times more productive than ours and it might have something to do with its much lower pinniped populations. Recently, the minister admitted seals eat fish. Does the minister know how much capelin that harp seals alone consume in Atlantic Canada each year?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, based on DFO estimates, the answer is four billion pounds per year. The fishing industry wants to know why time and money is be wasted on another seal study and a seal summit, instead of working to remove trade barriers with the EU and the U.S.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, so we have cut all quotas of fish in Canada to very low levels and ended many fisheries. Pinniped populations are five to 15 times higher than historic levels. With the reduction of pinniped numbers, can fish stocks recover?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, does the minister believe that 50% of salmon smolts entering the ocean from B.C. rivers are consumed by pinnipeds, yes or no?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, is the minister aware of Bill C-251 and has she familiarized herself with the contents?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, will the minister support the conservation of fish stocks and vote for Bill C-251?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, that is not an answer. Why was the capelin stock assessment not completed this year?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I have information that says that the vessel was not operating, and that is why that survey was not completed. Could the minister please confirm if there was a vessel available to complete that survey?
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, 7,500 health care professionals were promised for rural Canada by the Liberals in the 2021 election campaign. Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, like much of rural Canada, is in a health care crisis. My constituent, 40-year old Preston Pardy, who happens to be in Ottawa today, spent five days on a stretcher in an understaffed hospital after suffering a heart attack. Weeks later, he was…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I have a few things on my mind about Bill C-8. Businesses had to meet the 40% or 50% thresholds for October, November and December sales, and I would like to know why the government caved to the hoteliers when they lobbied. It did not listen to the CFIB or CRA, and businesses that are down between 10% and 40% do not qualify for anything. That is thousands and thousands of small busi…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I am not exactly sure what my hon. colleague means, but I think she is asking me how we are going to look at historical data to create the framework moving forward. What I mean is that we would look back at where historical populations of pinnipeds were, and establish acceptable levels of where they should be so that our fish stocks could recover and get back to the levels they were…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Vancouver Island, who is originally from my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador. I think that is why she cares so much about the management of pinnipeds. It is a traditional thing that runs through her veins. What I mean by the management of pinnipeds is that not only do we set quotas, but we support the harvesting of pinnipeds. We can also make…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has had a massive increase in its budget since 2015. All we need is a simple diversion of funds taken out of the regular science budget that it has right now.
Read full speech →