Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Small Craft Harbours program, broken down by harbour authority: (a) how much has been invested in the harbour authorities of Yarmouth and Digby Counties; and (b) how much will be invested over the next five years in the harbour authorities mentioned in (a)?
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Mr. Speaker, talking about the weather is truly Nova Scotian, and the weather radar is an important tool for farmers and fishers alike, allowing them to plan and make sure they and their workers are safe. Currently, a big chunk of southwest Nova Scotia, the most lucrative fishing grounds in Canada, is not covered by weather radar. As of tomorrow, the existing radar in mainland Nova Scotia will be …
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Madam Speaker, the residents along the Avon River in Nova Scotia are looking for the Minister of Fisheries’ final decision on the Windsor causeway. Her interim decision a few months ago has created chaos along the river. Lake Pisiquid is now a dusty, dry basin, apparently causing respiratory problems for residents of the town of Windsor. There are reports of fish and turtle kills upstream, where f…
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With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Small Craft Harbours program: (a) how much has been invested in the Harbour Authority of Little River, Digby County; and (b) how much will be invested over the next five years?
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Mr. Speaker, a few weeks back, I sent a letter to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans asking for details on the possible indigenous fishery beginning June 1 and how she and her department would respond. The minister's statement about regulations and seasons in March was what coastal communities had been waiting for since tensions blew up back in September. Nobody wants a repeat of that. Will the …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Shefford for her question. Strict regulations on offshore exploration are needed to ensure that the workers are healthy and safe. I have concerns about the exclusions. We will have to keep a close eye on this.
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Mr. Speaker, Wednesday was of course the National Day of Mourning, and I am sure many of us know people who were lost during the exercise of their dangerous job, or even not so dangerous job, because of lack of regulation or safety requirements in their workplace. Unions should be consulted. Unions have a really good feeling of their membership, and they speak every day for their membership for a …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Calgary Centre for sharing his time with me today to speak to Bill S-3. On December 31, 2020, our offshore oil and gas workers were instantly stripped of their health and safety protections. This date saw the expiry of a transitional, or what we could call temporary, safety regulations that had been in place for the previous six years. They came with the…
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to ask the million-dollar question. Why does the member think it has taken six years for the government to get to the point that we need to give another extension before regulations are put in place?
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Mr. Speaker, budget 2021 proposes to provide $300 million on a cash basis over the next two years to Fisheries and Oceans Canada to repair, renew and replace small craft harbours. This amount is ridiculous, as we know that in western Nova Scotia almost $500 million is needed to address deferred maintenance and safety upgrades. Fishers across our country have worked and continue to work tirelessly …
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Madam Speaker, the government has failed on every corner it has taken on this issue. It has not provided Canadians with a plan for how we are going to be able to solve it. They have not told us how we are solving the first wave, let alone the third wave we find ourselves in today. We need to be able to get vaccines into the arms of Canadians. The government needs to give us something inspirational…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. We need to be optimistic about what we can do for Canadians. The government has to set dates and decide on amounts. The motion may be optimistic, but at the same time, it is necessary to inform the people of Canada and Quebec.
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Madam Speaker, quite honestly, we need a plan. There is no plan. We continually hear the government talking about its portfolio. It is not talking about a real vaccination plan, saying that is the problem of the provinces. How can we truly judge whether the Liberal government is doing a good job when it does not let us know what it is actually going to do? It needs to provide us with a date and le…
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon. It is my pleasure to stand and speak for a few moments today, not only about the situation here in Nova Scotia, but also to the motion we have before us from my hon. colleague from Calgary Nose Hill and, of course, the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. It is hard to figure out where to start with …
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Mr. Speaker, last week was National Volunteer Week. I would like to take a moment today to sincerely thank all of the incredible volunteers throughout West Nova. They have contributed their time, energy and talent over the past year to give back to those in need. Rain or shine, our local volunteers have always been very generous with their time. Whether it is lending a helping hand to seniors, at …
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Madam Speaker, not only are we seeing the same thing here, but we do not have access to those kinds of products. Another issue here in southwest Nova Scotia is that the housing market has gone up as a lot of people have decided to move here. A young couple trying to buy their first home and get into the workforce cannot afford to, because of mismanagement and how this pandemic continues to go on. …
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Madam Speaker, what we are seeing is nearly $100 billion being spent on programs that have more to do with a future election. The government is doing its best to offer Canadians as much as it possibly can, in the hope that they will vote for the Liberals. I think Canadians can see through the game the government is playing with these investments to help Canadians and Quebeckers.
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Madam Speaker, if that was the way the budget was structured then, yes, we should find things that we could work on together. However, what we find is a document that has not been presented in two years, so the pent-up demand from government departments created a 700-page tome of information with a whole bunch of things in it that are, in our case, unsupportable. We supported the bill for a diabet…
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Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to join the House from beautiful southwest Nova Scotia, where it is a little rainy. We do not have a whole lot of COVID-19 floating around, but it seems that here in Nova Scotia we are having a resurgence of variants. Due to a lack of vaccines, we are going to see a bit of the third wave the rest of Canada has seen over the last number of weeks and months. Because …
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With regard to moderate livelihood fisheries: has the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard made a decision, and, if so, when will it be communicated to Indigenous and commercial fishers?
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Mr. Speaker, 12 months have passed since the innocent victims lost their lives in the worst killing rampage in this country. The scars of the victims' loved ones are still very difficult to heal. One of the reasons is that the investigation has been slow since day one, revealing little information and keeping the victims' families in the dark. We know that the final report is due November 2022, bu…
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Mr. Speaker, I take the floor today in the beautiful province of Nova Scotia to recognize the one-year anniversary of one of the darkest chapters in its history: the death of 22 people in Portapique. One year ago, Nova Scotia RCMP struggled for 13 hours to try to stop Canada's deadliest rampage. The deaths of innocent victims were senseless, unnecessary and totally heinous. Ever since this tragic …
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Mr. Speaker, let me be sure that Canadians understand this. The Liberal MP for Sydney—Victoria was correct when he said that the minister's pronouncement was only an interim measure. Clarity is extremely important here. Is the minister telling us that flexible, moderate livelihood plans will be established by each first nation outside existing lobster seasons and will not be enforced by DFO after …
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Madam Speaker, on February 23rd, I wrote the minister of DFO and the CRA regarding the new fisheries regulations that go into force on April 1, just a few days away. There are conflicting rules between DFO and the CRA that need to be addressed. Many fishing enterprises utilize spousal income splitting to help spread the tax burden, which is allowed under CRA rules, but now disallowed under DFO's n…
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Madam Speaker, on March 3, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard issued a statement that was supposedly meant to bring clarity and certainty ahead of the spring lobster fishery. This 180° change in direction has failed to set a path that would bring back peace, security and fairness for all participants in the lobster fishery. We did not get an answer for the member for To…
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Mr. Speaker, not a cent went to Stanfield's, but it stepped up and made sure there was domestic production of PPE. It invested in itself and upgraded its facility to participate in making sure Canadians were not caught off guard again. It was assured by the local MP and others that procurement was interested in a more collaborative approach to domestic production of PPE. This also turned out to be…
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Mr. Speaker, last spring the federal government faced a PPE shortage and desperately needed to respond to Canada’s demand due to COVID-19. Last month, the Liberal member for Cumberland—Colchester stated on social media that her government had invested $27.9 million to enable Stanfield’s in Truro, Nova Scotia, to manufacture PPE for frontline workers. The fact is that no such investment exists. Can…
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Mr. Speaker, Nova Scotia has been so fortunate during the second wave of COVID-19. In our province of almost a million souls, we only have 14 active cases and only one patient in hospital as of this morning. That is quite a contrast compared with other provinces and territories in our great country. However, our economy continues to take a huge hit due to the Liberal government's failed vaccine ro…
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Mr. Speaker, it has been a year since I first raised concerns about the fisheries crisis in West Nova with the Minister of Fisheries, and we all know how bad events played out due to her inaction. Spring fishing is just around the corner, and although the minister says that she has been holding discussions with stakeholders, no official agreements have yet been made. Will the Prime Minister ask th…
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Mr. Speaker, I was very sad to hear last Saturday that my friend Father Maurice Leblanc had passed away at age 96. Born in West Pubnico, in the Par-en-Bas region, this great Acadian was very involved in our community throughout his life. He was well loved because he was close to everyone, and I had the privilege of knowing him my entire life. He was a proud Acadian activist who generously shared h…
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Madam Speaker, quite honestly, we need an indication from the government that changes can be made to the bill. As I said in my remarks, there needs to be a representation of francophone communities outside of Quebec, especially Acadian representation. We need to have a better idea of how the CRTC will work with or charge the CBC to provide the services needed for our community. As I said, in 1981,…
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise virtually today to speak to Bill C-10. Like many of my colleagues, I appreciate this opportunity to speak to this bill. I am an Acadian, and this bill will have a profound effect on the survival of our wonderful Acadian culture and community, which is very important to me. It deserves being promoted and protected. Digital media is bigger than ever, and the …
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Madam Speaker, ultimately, there has to be some clear definition on what these would constitute. When we look at the small community radio stations, and in our particular case in Nova Scotia, there are only a few Francophone radio stations beyond the CBC, they can be in direct conflict or in competition with some of these smaller groups that have no regulations at all. They can say and do anything…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. We really want to encourage this with a positive approach. There is not much francophone or Acadian content. We really need to see Acadians, francophones and indigenous people not only on our social media, but also in our traditional media, such as CBC and others. I believe that it is possible to find ways to get these media to agree to come to t…
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Mr. Speaker, in a few weeks, a year will have passed since Canada's worst mass murder occurred in Portapique, Nova Scotia. After severe public pressure from family and opposition intervention, the government finally did the right thing and called for a public inquiry. However, the families of the victims are still in the dark and are still battling with the Liberal government for answers. Federal …
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With regard to the ongoing issues related to the Indigenous Nova Scotia lobster fishery, since November 20, 2019: (a) how many briefings has the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans had from the departmental scientists in charge of Lobster Fishing Areas (LFA) 33, LFA 34 and LFA 35 regarding the state of the lobster fisheries; (b) what are the details of the briefings in (a), including (i) the date, (i…
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With regards to the role of First Nations fisheries and reconciliation: (a) how many meetings or briefings has the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans had regarding reconciliation since November 20, 2019; and (b) what are the details of all meetings in (a), including the (i) date, (ii) attendees, (iii) location, (iv) purpose of the meeting or briefing?
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