Jonathan Rowe
Terra Nova—The Peninsulas, Newfoundland and Labrador · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, summer is just around the corner, and there is no better place to be than on the Rock. Whether people want to go to Swift Current to see a world-class car collection, to Bonavista to see the icebergs, to the Burin Peninsula to hear the great stories of the famous pirates or to Lumsden to experience the best beaches north of C…”
“Mr. Speaker, I do not think Saint Pierre and Miquelon was even mentioned in that answer. I do not think that answer is very good for the next generation or very comforting to the next generation. Critical minerals, for example, are critical to the country's development and future.”
“Mr. Speaker, I read a news article yesterday that said there are asylum seekers and claimants from Saint Pierre and Miquelon entering Canada through my part of the island. Are people coming from France, a G7 ally, really seeking asylum in Canada? Are these even legitimate asylum claims?”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of the residents of Carmanville and surrounding communities. The petition is based on a concern for the lack of RCMP presence within those communities.”
“Mr. Speaker, Port aux Basques and Argentia ferries are critical to Newfoundland's economy. They supply our food, medication and everything else. However, the union's agreement ended in December. The unions have been fighting for a deal ever since.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am going to let that minister in on a little secret. These ferries are a federal Crown corporation. Canada has just entered into a recession. Tourism businesses across this country are still having to pay off COVID debt. More small businesses in this country are closing than opening. Insolvencies are higher since 2000.”
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“It affects real people, real Canadians, people who are hurting and looking for hope. Now these men are homeless. They have no jobs, and it is like a dog chasing its tail. Last night, as I was writing this speech, I came up with a revolutionary idea. What if we started building more homes to create more jobs for these young men and to give families homes to live in? I think that is an idea we can all get behind. The question is, how? Economics 101 is a lesson on supply and demand. As supply increases, the demand decreases. This means that the more homes we have in Canada, the lower the demand will be, and prices will begin stabilizing to make houses more affordable for all Canadians. The solution seems simple: build more homes. Unfortunately, nobody in this country seems to be doing that. Why?”
“Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, they lost hope, and when hope was lost, they searched for something to fill that void. Like many young people, especially young men, they turned to drugs. Why did they lose this hope? As the inquisitive young man that I am, I asked workers at the facility that exact question. A young lady working there came up to me and said, “All these men, they just hit their breaking point. We see these kinds of surges when the economy gets bad. They lose their jobs, which causes stress. They often lose their wives and their families too, and they end up here.” How heartbreaking. Her statement stuck with me because what we do here in Ottawa does not just affect our economy. It does not just affect unemployment, and it does not just affect housing stats.”
“Even with a degree that offered great employment like that, in order to afford a home, I still had to work two jobs. I would work week on, week off at a gold mine. On my weeks off, I would work with a consulting company in the oil and gas sector. These are the consequences of the inflationary Liberal decade. Us young people have to work twice as hard to get the same things our parents had. We are seeing even greater consequences of the lost Liberal decade. Youth shelters are full. Housing wait-lists are growing. Homelessness, once unthinkable at this scale, is now a reality in communities across my province and this country. Over the summer, I was able to have a tour of the Salvation Army homeless shelter in St. John's. I spoke with a few young men in the cafeteria. I heard their stories. They started out not much different than we did.”
“It is about whether young people can make a wooden box into a home. Young Canadians are not asking for guarantees or handouts; they are asking for fairness. They want to work. They want to contribute. They want the same opportunities as the generations before them. They want to own a home. In my province, we face the highest unemployment rate in the country. Add that to rising rents, rising home prices and limited supply, and young people are being forced into impossible choices. Some are staying with their parents. Some are even staying with their grandparents. These are grown men and women, oftentimes older than me, working full-time, yet still having to face these unfavourable choices. I went to university. I got a degree in civil engineering.”
“Madam Speaker, there is a rumour spreading. It has been around a while, but it lingers. People thought that by now this rumour would be dead, but unfortunately, it still lives on. In almost every corner of Canada, we hear the three big words: Canada feels broken. Why? Why does Canada feel broken? Once we start asking that question, we will get many answers, but at the core of all those things, I see one issue that affects almost every neighbourhood across this country: a housing crisis. Housing conditions have changed dramatically in recent years. Cost has risen faster than wages. Demand has increased. Supply has not kept pace, and young Canadians are feeling the pressure more than any generation before them. Housing is not just about shelter. It is about economic stability. It is about mental health.”
“Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador has a long history of building boats and protecting North America during the wars. Unfortunately, it seems like the Liberal government is overlooking our province as it builds its icebreaker maintenance facility. In my region alone, we currently have four industry ports sitting idle: Marystown Shipyard, Cow Head facility, the Bull Arm Fabrication Site and the retired navy base of Argentia. Newfoundlanders have used these sites to build vessels, ferries and even large oil rigs. With all these previous projects, our tradespeople have become the best boatbuilders in the world, but over the last Liberal decade, these sites have been empty. Now Newfoundland and Labrador has 74% of its tradespeople unemployed. We have the ports. We have the people. Let us get a government that gets our people to work.”
“Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance promised to stabilize food prices three years ago. What the Liberals have actually done is create the worst food inflation in the G7. Food inflation is now double what it was when the Prime Minister got into office. This is not a global phenomenon. Canadian inflation is double that of the United States. Now, instead of fixing the actual problem, they have added a temporary band-aid. A couple making minimum wage would not even be eligible for it. Will the Liberal government please stand with our food affordability plan to make groceries affordable for all of us?”
“Mr. Speaker, when Canada builds more and exports more, incomes rise, our dollar gets stronger and life becomes more affordable. One of the first things I voted for was to give the Liberals extensive powers to improve projects at speeds never seen before, but despite all the Liberal slogans, they have not removed any barriers. Not a single new project has been approved. When will the Liberal government work with Conservatives to build a country that all of us can be proud of and approve a Canadian sovereignty act to have an independent economy?”
“Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of talk about Ukraine and Russia, and how Canada has been supporting Ukraine in that war. Newfoundland and Labrador has a great opportunity to be able to provide oil and gas to the rest of the world, including Germany. Councillors from Germany came to Newfoundland and Labrador looking for natural gas, and the Liberal government said that there was no business case for it. Will the Liberal government repeal Bill C-69 ?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government promised billions in housing spending, but today, the Parliamentary Budget Officer exposed that this program is exactly like the last four: an absolute failure. This is just another example of the Liberals promising the same old things and never delivering. Their new housing program is supposed to get only 26,000 homes built in five years, only a fraction of the 2.5 million promised. How will the Prime Minister tell this horrible news to young people? Will he simply ask them to make more sacrifices?”
“They are calling on the government to double small craft harbour funding, strengthen engagement with coastal communities, make permanent investments in modern infrastructure and, finally, deliver on its own 2024 harbour commitments. I am honoured to table this petition on their behalf.”
“Mr. Speaker, I rise with a petition from Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who are deeply worried about the condition of Canada's small craft harbours throughout the province. This is vital infrastructure for our fish harvesters and coastal communities. The petitioners point out that most harbours rely on volunteers, and that only about 700 of the 950 harbours across the country can be properly supported. Despite government promises to bring these harbours up to standard, the program is still operating on the same $90-million budget, with little visible progress. The petitioners note that stalled maintenance, aging infrastructure and limited federal investments are holding back jobs and growth, and that communication with our harbour authorities simply has not kept pace with community needs.”
“At the same time, we need to work together on both sides of this aisle to have better forest management and better disaster prevention and relief technologies. Today, as a symbol of renewal and celebration, we hear that the Red Ochre Café is reopening. We rebuild together.”
“Mr. Speaker, this summer, wildfires swept across my district and our province. Families lost their homes, their businesses and the places that shaped their lives. Through it all, our firefighters, first responders and volunteers worked courageously day and night, and we thank them for their tireless efforts. However, what defines us in Newfoundland and Labrador is how we show up for others. Communities rallied together and local businesses stepped up, including the Mess Tent Poutinerie, which helped feed firefighters, first responders and volunteers with donated food and supplies from across the region. As recovery continues, my office is working closely with the province and the federal government to ensure that every family and business affected by these fires receives fair and timely compensation.”
“Mr. Speaker, I will tell the country what was not happening when Stephen Harper was in government. Veterans were not calling Veterans Affairs begging for assistance and being asked if they would rather die with our MAID program. That was not happening under Stephen Harper's government. That would not happen under a Conservative government.”
“Mr. Speaker, I would love for the Liberals to give us an actual number for how much money is fleeing to other countries. I saw a video this morning on Instagram talking about how the Prime Minister was in another country saying that there would be trillions of dollars going to Europe. That just blows our minds. We have seen trillions of dollars going to Donald Trump in the United States. I do not understand why we are not putting that money in Canada, putting Canada first and actually building Canada strong.”
“Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Quebec raised some good points. Newfoundland and Labrador is doing the right thing. Newfoundland Labrador Hydro has a subsidy called Newfoundland OilCo. It has equity, sometimes up to 8% or 10%, in our offshore oil and gas industry so we can make sure Newfoundlanders and Canadians are getting a good cut and a good, fair percentage of that. It keeps our Newfoundlanders at work. It keeps our Canadians at work. We make billions of dollars off oil and gas in our province. Twenty-five per cent of Newfoundland's GDP comes from oil and gas, so when Conservatives promised to double oil and gas production in Newfoundland and Labrador, it would have added an extra 25% to our economy.”
“I apologize, Mr. Speaker. I know you would never cut spending to Veterans Affairs. I want to bring up this question: Why make the cuts to Veterans Affairs? Why not use the money to support veterans, rather than asking them if they would rather die when they are on the phone asking for help?”
“There was nothing for P.E.I., nothing for New Brunswick and nothing for my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We have massive opportunities in gold and critical minerals through mining, critical minerals we need for Canadian sovereignty. We have massive oil and gas resources, massive potential in hydroelectricity and multi-billion dollar fabrication sites sitting idle, yet not one project was announced. I cannot support the Liberal budget because the Liberal budget does not support Newfoundland and Labrador.”
“Veterans are the reason we have our freedoms. It is disappointing and disgraceful. Even with those disgraceful cuts, the Liberals plan on adding another $300 billion in the next five years, totalling $1.6 trillion. I travel across my district, and the wharves are deplorable. In fact, wharves right across Newfoundland and Labrador are deplorable. The Conservatives promised to double infrastructure spending for small craft harbours, but the Liberals decided they had to outdo us, so they promised to triple it. This budget comes nowhere close to doing that. Then the Liberals promised national building projects right across this country. Almost every province got one except Newfoundland and Labrador. There was only one in Atlantic Canada, in fact. It was for Nova Scotia to build wind turbines.”
“The Liberals ran a campaign on bringing in a fancy banker who was going to bring fiscal responsibility to the nation and save us by only having a $62-billion deficit. However, here we are at a $78-billion deficit. The entire country's debt right now is at $1.3 trillion. We spend more money in interest, servicing this debt, than we pay out in health care payments to all the provinces right across this country. We spend more money servicing this debt right across this country than we get in GST revenues. Every time we go to the store and pay GST on something, it is just covering the cost of the interest on this $1.3-trillion debt. Where did the Liberals decide to cut? They decided to cut $4 billion in the next few years from Veterans Affairs, the department that supports the people who fought for this country.”
“Since 2019 alone, the Canadian dollar has lost 16% of its value. Did Canadians at home get a 16% wage increase? It is not likely for many of us. Surprisingly, housing costs have not gone up in Canada compared with the price of gold. The average price of a home today is the same as it was in the early 1980s. If we had used a gold-backed currency that could not be devalued by money printing, houses would still be the same price today. That is why the Conservative Party does not believe in budgets that balance themselves. We believe in fiscal responsibility. We need budgets that are not filled with generational debt and inflation. I am not looking to hold the Liberals to Conservative promises. I want to hold them accountable to Liberal promises.”
“It taxes the poor without them even knowing it. Nobody comes into the House, puts forth a bill and votes on it. They simply go to the boardrooms and make quiet decisions to make our money worth less. It is a slap in the face when governments get up and say that it is giving a 1% tax cut to 22 million Canadians while Canadians are losing 1.7% in inflation. The government just taxed us an extra 0.7% without us even knowing it. Someone making $60,000 in a year just lost 0.7%, or $420 in hidden inflationary taxes. They just lost 1.7% on all their savings. That, my friends, is exactly why the cost of living is going up and why we cannot afford the same things anymore. The Liberals have been borrowing and printing money, circulating billions more. We have seen this a lot in the past 10 years.”
“However, if someone owns their own company with 3% inflation, they can simply put their prices up to match inflation without losing a cent. In fact, they can get on the news and convince the average Joe that they should invest in their companies because they have had record-breaking profits. We see this in the grocery stores. (1235) Inflation is good for rich people in this country who are backed by assets. The average Joe puts money in a savings account. We get excited when we make 2% interest on our savings, but if inflation is 3%, we actually lose 1%. The rich keep their savings not in a bank account but in assets, so when inflation is raised to 3%, it is no big deal. Their real estate portfolio just increases as well. I have heard our Conservative leader say over and over again that inflation is the cruellest form of taxation.”
“Now our money is backed by a promise, a simple promise, a promise we make as Canadians to each other, a promise that we will accept a piece of paper as a trading token. The only problem we have is that the value of the trading token can simply be changed by increasing the amount in circulation. What is the harm of printing money and causing inflation? If someone is a business person, perhaps an executive with Brookfield Asset Management or a trust fund baby such as Justin Trudeau, inflation means no more than water on a duck's back. They do not have fixed salaries; they have business incomes, and they are protected by their assets. If someone is an average Joe and gets a 1% raise at work, they are excited, but if inflation was 3%, that means the values of their wage went down by 3%, so they just got robbed. They actually got a 2% pay cut.”
“Now, $1 can only get someone about three eggs. Why did the value of our currency drop? It dropped from overspending. The government does not have money. It spends money collected from taxes, but once it spends what is collected, it borrows or prints the money. This is where the problem comes from. Throughout most of history, currency was actually gold and silver coins. They were hard to mobilize and easy for others to steal, so banks suggested we give them money, which they would secure. The banks would then give banknotes in lieu, which could be used to trade products. That was called gold-backed currency or, as we call it, the gold standard. That system worked until banks and governments realized that they could loan more money and even print money if they removed the gold standard.”
“It is the same loaf, and it tastes the same; it is just that the currency is worth less. The baker cannot take his $100 and buy a new pair of shoes. In this hypothetical inflation, that new $100 can probably buy only a dozen eggs. A dozen eggs is still worth only one loaf of bread. Members may say that eggs will never go that high. I will tell members this: In 1925, a dozen eggs was just 47¢. Now, it is $4.70. That is a 100% increase. The egg is still the same: same size, same taste, same egg. In fact, if the dollar never lost its value over time, the egg should actually be cheaper. because the farming industry has become more efficient and able to produce more eggs with fewer resources. Why did some eggs increase from 47¢ to $4.70? It is because our dollar is worth less. In 1925, $1 could get someone two dozen eggs.”
“We do not really buy and sell things in this country; we trade. Those are arbitrary terms for trade. We trade products for currency. We trade one bottle of water for $1. We trade a vehicle for thousands of dollars. It is like the famous game of Catan, in which players have to trade resources to complete tasks. If there is a lot of wheat, players may pay four wheat cards to get one brick, but if the game is reversed, they may use four brick cards to get one wheat. It is supply and demand; it is Economics 101. What happens when our dollar, our currency, loses its scarcity? It loses value. If we simplify our economy down to five loaves and $5, every loaf is worth $1. However, if we have five loaves and $500, every loaf is now worth the high price of $100. Is the bread really worth more?”
“Mr. Speaker, there is an age-old question in business classes: How much does a bottle of water cost? In a grocery store, it is about 25¢. At a restaurant, it is about $2.50. In an airport, it is $5. If someone was at a salmon festival in Newfoundland, it was 30°C and they ran out of water, they would have to pay $10 for a bottle of water passed through the fence. If someone was in the desert, in the heat, three days without water, I would say they would give their left kidney for a bottle of water. The point is this: The more scarce something is, the more valuable it is. The reverse of that is true: The more abundant something is, the less valuable it is. It would be nearly impossible to sell a bottle of water next to a cold spring. The bottle of water is effectively worthless.”
“Mr. Speaker, every dollar the Prime Minister spends is either taxed from the pockets of Canadians or comes from printed and borrowed money, driving up inflation and the cost of everything in Canada. In P.E.I., university food bank usage is up 60%. It is the same old story right across Atlantic Canada, yet the Prime Minister is refusing to scrap his costly regulations, which only make it more expensive to fish, farm and ship our food. Why is the Prime Minister increasing the industrial carbon tax, increasing the fuel tax and making it even more expensive for Canadians?”
“Mr. Speaker, I am curious. The Liberal Party seems to be very excited about giving tax cuts and making things more affordable for Canadians. I wonder why it took the luxury tax off luxury vehicles but continues to keep the HST and GST on health care services such as massage therapy.”
“Mr. Speaker, as Canadians, we pride ourselves on having free health care, but that is not entirely true. Dental care, physiotherapy, chiropractor services and massage therapy are all forms of health care that Canadians have to pay for, but to add insult to injury, thousands of Canadians are actually paying GST and HST on their health care. Even with a doctor's referral, Canadians are paying GST and HST on massage therapy. People in my riding are frustrated about the inequity. On almost all forms of health care, including dental care, physio and chiropractor services, Canadians do not have to pay GST, but they do have to pay it on massage therapy; therefore I am pleased to present on their behalf a petition to remove GST and HST on massage therapy.”
“Mr. Speaker, when someone is in Newfoundland and Labrador, they do not have to go very far to cross paths with a fisherman or fisherwoman, and they do not have to go far to find people who participate in the recreational food fishery. Almost everyone in my riding, in my province and in the riding of the member across the way participates, and if they do not, their close family and relatives do. I have had hundreds of conversations throughout my riding and province with the people who elected me and the other Conservatives about how to go forward. I really appreciate all the people at home who gave us their feedback so we could get here today.”
“Mr. Speaker, we are looking at a situation right now where the Liberal government is proposing to take 30% of our ocean by 2030 to turn it into a marine protected area. By 2050, they are planning to turn 50% of our ocean into a marine protected area. That is a lot of ocean. I want to take a stand and ask that we have a recreational food fishery in all marine protected areas. I am not sure the Liberals have the same commitment, but I would like to see them commit to having food fisheries in those areas, going forward.”
“Mr. Speaker, to my understanding, Quebec has the same rules as most of Atlantic Canada right now and people are able to fish seven days a week with a five-fish limit. That is what Newfoundland is asking for, to have the same rules as Quebec and the rest of Atlantic Canada. I am very happy to hear the Bloc is going to be supporting this bill. I really appreciate the member's support.”
“Mr. Speaker, this is an imaginary tax. There are no fees on catching codfish right now, nor do I want there to be. In my speech, which I am sure the member across the way just heard, I said that we should pay for the monitoring system, if it would cost anything, through stricter penalties, more fines and catching the bad apples who are making it bad for the bunch. Perhaps it would not cost anything at all; we can work through that in committee. There is no reason to be forcing people to pay for a monitoring system, and the imaginary tax is nothing more than imaginary.”
“In the same way, it is a way for daughters to connect with fathers, and, quite frankly, for the whole family and community to connect. The fish do not care what our problems are, what gender we are or what race we are. Fishing is a safe space where Newfoundlanders and Labradorians get together, sometimes returning from all around the world, to talk, to laugh and to heal. To restore equality, we need the Liberals and all members of the House to vote for the bill. Let us pass the bill. Let us give Newfoundlanders and Labradorians the same opportunities as our Atlantic neighbours, because back home the fishery runs deeper than the ocean; it runs through our veins. It is our fish. It is our waters. It is our way of life.”
“We talk a lot in the House about the mental health of Canadians. The whole country contributes to important initiatives like Bell Let's Talk and other mental health initiatives that emphasize the importance of people's connecting with one another, and especially of men's connecting with other men. Some of the toughest and warmest conversations men have happen on the water. Many of the toughest conversations, the ones we do not want anyone else to hear, are the ones that happen in between the “I got one” moments. These are the conversations that have guided my life, whether they have been with my father, my grandfather or my uncle. A good day on the water can change a man, improve a man and improve our outlook on life.”
“When I travel my district and the province, I see what the fishery means to people. I see grandpas teaching grandsons how to tie lures. I see grandmas teaching grandkids how to filet cod. I see families hanging out together and heading out on the water, just as the sun pulls up over the ocean. We cannot put a price on that. That is culture. That is identity. That is Newfoundland and Labrador, so when Ottawa tries to limit that, it does not just take away our opportunity; it also takes away who we are. My bill is not a partisan bill. It is not Liberal, it is not Conservative and it is not NDP. It is Newfoundland and Labrador, so I hope, at the very least, I will have my colleagues from Newfoundland and Labrador join me and join us in voting for the bill, because it is about all of Atlantic Canada standing together for fairness.”
“It says that we deserve the same opportunities and the same respect as our neighbours. I want to talk about another part: stability, predictability and respect. One of the new clauses would add a line to the Fisheries Act, recognizing “the importance of stability and predictability for those who engage in recreational fishing for groundfish”. This might sound like a lot of bureaucratic language, but in plain English, it means this: People deserve to know the rules and to know when the season opens. When a man or woman hauls a boat down to a slipway, they should not have to wonder if this is the weekend the season is going to open. We should all know well in advance. Fisheries management should be rooted in science and fairness, not in politics and not in frustration.”
“We see similar reporting systems in Newfoundland and Labrador with our moose hunting return slips. The monitoring system should be developed by conversations with locals. Too often we see that decisions are made way too far from the wharves and coves that they affect. (1750) The bill is not about fish; it is about respect for Newfoundland and Labrador. For far too long, our people have felt like an afterthought in Ottawa's decisions. We have had our shipyards sit idle, our oil projects stall, our mines close down and our seal fishery laughed at. Now even our food fishery, the simplest, most traditional act of all, is tangled up in red tape that no one else in Atlantic Canada has to deal with. The bill does say it all. It says that we would no longer be treated as an exemption.”
“The biggest thing to keep in mind is this: The seals are estimated to be eating 9.7 billion tonnes of fish a year. It does not take a calculator to see that the easiest way to restore our fishery is to harvest more seals, not starve more Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Let us talk about a monitoring system. The bill would direct the minister to create, within one year, a new monitoring system. It should record the number of fish caught by species, as well as the time and place. It should use modern tools and best practices. It should be funded, where possible, by existing fees and penalties. It should reward compliance, not give out punishment, with incentives for timely reporting. This data can be used to improve science and help determine fish patterns and quantities.”
“The spawning biomass of northern cod had dropped by 93% in only 30 years, from 1.6 million tonnes in 1962 to 100,000 tonnes in 1992, but things are on the rise since the moratorium. By 2024, the cod biomass had moved out of the critical zone and into the cautious zone, the highest levels in decades. Ottawa agrees that there is more fish in the waters, and the evidence is that the northern cod quota has doubled. The total allowable catch for 2025 northern cod has been set to 38,000 tonnes, which is more than double the 2024 quota of 18,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, the recreational food fishery only consumes 2,500 tonnes a year. Compared to the 38,000 commercial tonnes, it is peanuts. Many people say that more fish are dying from natural causes than what is harvested in the recreational food fishery.”
“In addition, many of our tourists are Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who have moved away to work and want to come home for a week of deep-sea fishing, but they often decide not to come home because finding a weekend with good weather is almost impossible. We can imagine the number of Newfoundlanders who would want to come home from Alberta and everywhere else in this world if they could catch a fish seven days a week. The economic value of that is almost unimaginable. Third and most importantly, we can catch fish only three days a week while the rest of Atlantic Canada can catch fish seven days a week. Here are the statistics. By the early 1990s, after decades of unsustainable fishing, the northern cod stocks collapsed.”
“Many people in my riding are struggling to buy groceries, but they are forced to go out and face that danger because they cannot go out on a Thursday afternoon to catch a codfish to feed their family. We have lost thousands of people in Newfoundland at sea, and we do not need Newfoundlanders and Labradorians continuing to risk their lives just to put food on the table. Second, the government partially realizes the economic value of tourism fishing, but what is interesting is that these tour boat operators, oddly enough, are allowed to fish seven days a week. To me, this sets a great precedent, a precedent that we should all be allowed to fish seven days a week.”
“Here we are, stuck on land during blue skies and calm waters while our families are lined up at food banks. Here is a glimpse of the current system. In 2025, the food fishery ran for only 45 days, with a daily limit of five fish. With a doctor's note, some seniors and people with mobility issues could get someone to fish their fish for them. This year, a new pilot program was implemented for tour boat operators. Tour boats could provide a licence and two tags, allowing passengers to catch two fish each. Here is where things go wrong. First, 45 days open does not mean 45 days of fishing. If anyone here ever goes to Newfoundland, they will quickly find out that there is immense fog, high winds and high waves.”
“(1745) Since then, the recreational food fishery has become one of the most cherished traditions. Hundreds come from across Canada and around the world to spend a few days on the water. In the early 2000s, a tag system was introduced, requiring us to pay to receive tags. Yes, we had to pay. Imagine that: Ottawa ruins our fishery, then makes us pay them to receive 30 tags. This system was despised by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, who viewed this as bureaucratic and certainly unfair given our long tradition of fishing to feed our families. After many protests, petitions and outcries, DFO finally allowed us to catch fish on weekends, limiting us to five fish per day. That sounds great until we realize that other parts of Atlantic Canada can fish seven days a week.”
“Although overfishing in international waters did tremendous damage to northern cod, Canada also failed to maintain the sustainable fishery within its 200-mile limit. The government ignored warnings from inshore fishers and university scientists that cod stocks were in danger and chose to maintain quotas instead of scaling back on the fishery. Whole towns shut down overnight when the cod moratorium was announced. Overnight, 30,000 people, like plant workers, fishers and even truck drivers, lost their jobs. It was the largest industrial layoff in Canadian history. Next to 5% of our province's GDP was lost with the stroke of a pen, overnight. When the recreational food fishery reopened in 1998, it was a moment of relief. People finally got back on the water, not to sell or get rich, but to provide healthy food to their families.”
“It fed our families, paid our bills and built our communities. The world came to our shores, and the same fish became the cornerstone of North American colonization. From when Humphrey Gilbert landed in 1583 to 1949, Newfoundland had control of its own fishery. That is nearly 400 years with a sustainable fishery. After 1949, Ottawa took control of our fishery. A city with no ocean decided what was best for Newfoundland and Labrador. It used our fishery as a trading chip, allowing foreign trawlers to wreak havoc on our fishery. By the time John Crosbie became the fisheries minister in 1991, there was nothing left. While he did not take the fish out of the water, Ottawa certainly did. Somehow, Ottawa managed to ruin a 400-year-old sustainable fishery in just four decades.”
“A petition does not change the law and it does not change policy. It is simply a survey for our district to start conversations. It was evident very early on that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador were dead set against a 40-fish limit. What they really wanted was to be able to fish seven days a week and catch five fish per day during the whole season, like the rest of Atlantic Canada, so I began to work on a bill that would do just that. On September 22, I tabled this bill. Unfortunately, my petition got caught up in the Canada Post strike and did not land on people's doorsteps until weeks later, causing mass confusion throughout my riding and the province. For the people at home, let me be clear: forget my petition and read my bill. I think they will like it. Here is a bit of history. For hundreds of years, cod was our lifeline.”