Government Orders
Mr. Chair, could the minister please explain why the cod survey was not completed this year?
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Mr. Chair, will the minister support the conservation of fish stocks and vote for Bill C-251?
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Mr. Chair, is the minister aware of Bill C-251 and has she familiarized herself with the contents?
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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?
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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?
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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.
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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?
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Mr. Chair, I appreciate the minister's gracious invitation. Does the minister know how much more productive Norway's oceans are than ours?
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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?
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Mr. Chair, the “30 by 30” MPA policy is DFO's goal to protect all aspects of biodiversity within those MPAs: yes or no?
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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?
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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?
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Mr. Chair, would the minister agree that these ENGOs have a predetermined agenda in some cases?
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Mr. Chair, what does influence stock management decisions?
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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?
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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?
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Mr. Chair, does DFO consider shrimp to be a forage fish for the exploding Gulf of St. Lawrence redfish biomass?
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Mr. Chair, based on DFO surveys, fishing zone 4R has a growing shrimp biomass. Why was the quota cut this year?
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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.
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Mr. Chair, given changing environmental conditions, does DFO plan to modify the geographic parameters around scientific stock assessments?
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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?
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Mr. Chair, does Canadian science rely as heavily on acoustic surveys as other North Atlantic countries, such as Norway and Iceland?
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Mr. Chair, the minister has a responsibility to harvesters. Capelin will show up any day in 4R. When will they see a management plan?
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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?
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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?
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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…
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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.
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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?
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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…
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Mr. Chair, that is not an answer. Why was the capelin stock assessment not completed this year?
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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?
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Mr. Chair, does the minister consider it important to know what is happening with the cod biomass?
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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?
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Mr. Chair, could the hon. minister tell us how her background in planting trees prepared her to be the Minister of Fisheries?
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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—
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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…
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Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded division.
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Mr. Speaker, salmon anglers throughout Newfoundland and Labrador are expressing their concerns about inadequate enforcement on our rivers. The minister has had this brought to her attention, and it is now decision time. She knows what is in her mandate letter, and it is about protecting Atlantic salmon. Will she commit to adding extra weeks to the river guardian program, or will she continue to ne…
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With regard to funding applications received by the government under the Small Craft Harbours program since October 1, 2021: what are the details of each application, including the (i) name of the applicant, (ii) location, (iii) type of funding requested (loan, grant, etc.), (iv) date the application was received, (v) current status of the application, (vi) amount of funding approved, if applicabl…
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With regard to funding applications received by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency since October 1, 2021: what are the details of each application, including the (i) name of the applicant, (ii) program under which the funding application was made, (iii) type of funding requested (loan, grant, etc.), (iv) date the application was received, (v) current status of the application, (vi) amount of…
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Mr. Speaker, I am presenting this petition from my constituents and Canadians across the country who want an end to the vaccine mandates, especially for domestic travel, which is federally regulated. The petitioners note that several reviews and studies have revealed nearly non-existent transmission rates on airplanes. WestJet's chief medical officer said that there were no known records of transm…
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Mr. Speaker, the Baie Verte Peninsula, Fogo Island, Buchans, St. Alban's and Harbour Breton once had 25 doctors. These five communities in my riding are either without a doctor or are about to lose their last one. Some desperate communities are even asking me if it is possible to get relief from army doctors and medics. The 7,500 health care professionals promised for rural Canada in the Liberal e…
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Madam Speaker, there is not another member in the House who loves healthy debate more than my hon. colleague. He is on his feet every chance he gets. He absolutely relishes it. I ask my hon. colleague this. Does he want to take healthy debate out of democracy?
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Madam Speaker, I always enjoy my colleague opposite. He is such a great orator. We just love hearing what he has to say. However, earlier I heard you, Madam Speaker, chastise him because he was getting a little out of line. I heard the member talk about how we are trying to impede things, and that we are negative. However, if I was trying to sell a motion, I would stand up and talk about the merit…
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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…
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Mr. Speaker, folks from Port aux Basques to the tip of the great northern peninsula are dismayed and worried. Plant workers and fishermen in towns like Port aux Choix, Anchor Point and Cook's Harbour just received the news of a 20% cut in the 4R shrimp quota, after DFO stock surveys showed growth in the stock. Will the minister keep with her new policy of leaving more fish in the water or admit he…
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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.
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moved that Bill C-251, An Act respecting the development of a federal framework on the conservation of fish stocks and management of pinnipeds, be read the second time and referred to a committee. Madam Speaker, Canada's coastal regions are facing an ecological disaster. As such, I stand today for the second reading of my bill, Bill C-251, an act respecting the development of a federal framework o…
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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…
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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…
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