The lobster industry provides the Island with thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

Fishermen put their lives on the line every time they go out on the water in order to put a delicacy on tables around the world. Lobster is one of the most important staples of our Island economy, and if prices are unacceptable and our lobster fishers are suffering, then our entire Island suffers.

We have to do everything we can to get this price raised. The federal government should play a clear role in this crisis situation.

Of course the government isn’t going to step in and buy the lobster from the fishermen. But they do have to show leadership on such a divisive and important issue. They have the ability to bring all sides to the table, lead discussions, and actually look into what’s going on.

But as we have seen with the Conservatives’ attitude toward the provinces on any number of issues, and toward our fishers with their 2012 discussion on modernizing Canadian fisheries, which led to the fleet separation battle; this government wants nothing to do with consultations, getting to the bottom of important issues, or lifting a finger if it would do anything to help our fishers.

Last week I introduced a motion to the House of Commons Fisheries Committee. My motion asked for witnesses from all sides to appear before the committee to give their views on the situation and possible solutions. We would have heard from fishermen, processors, federal and provincial officials, and the Lobster Council of Canada, and we would have then made recommendations to the government on any possible steps it could take to help rectify this very serious situation.

My motion was debated at a secretive ‘in-camera’ meeting, and the motion eventually adopted by the committee was substantially different that the one I put forward. A Conservative gag order prevents me from discussing what went on at the meeting.

While I am pleased the committee will hear from the Lobster Council of Canada, I am quite concerned that we may not hear from anyone else, or make any recommendations to the Conservative government.

However, I will continue to push to have everyone involved in the industry heard, to get some leadership from the Conservative government, and to work together to come up with possible solutions to this very critical situation.

Lawrence MacAulay is Member of Parliament for Cardigan

OTTAWA – Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay issued this statement following the completion of Thursday’s House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans:

“The motion agreed to by the Fisheries Committee is substantially different than the one I introduced. I am very disappointed but it is a start.”

“It is so important that everyone involved in the fishery come together to come up with the best possible solutions going forward. Of course it’s not easy but it has to be done. We need the lobster fishers, the people that process it, the people that market it, and all levels of government before this Committee in order to do a proper study. The stakes are too high and this industry too important for not only our province but all of Atlantic Canada.”

“Although I am disappointed with the amended motion, I am pleased that the House of Commons Fisheries Committee will hear from the Lobster Council of Canada, but it is only a start. I would have liked to have seen my original motion adopted but this is where we are now.  I will continue to push to have everyone involved in the industry heard, to get some leadership from the federal Conservative government, and to work together to come up with solutions to this critical situation.”

Background:

The motion introduced by MacAulay read:

That, due to the significantly low prices being paid to Canadian lobster fishers and the critical importance of the lobster fishery in economic, social, and cultural terms, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans immediately call witnesses involved in the industry to discuss potential solutions, that the Committee make recommendations to the government of Canada on steps it can take to address the problems faced by the industry, and that the witness list include representatives of fish harvesting organizations, the Lobster Council of Canada, lobster processing companies, and provincial and federal fisheries officials.

The motion adopted by the Committee is as follows:

That, due to the significantly low prices being paid to Canadian lobster fishers and the critical importance of the lobster fishery in economic, social, and cultural terms, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans invite Mr. Geoff Irvine Executive Director of the Lobster Council of Canada to appear before it as soon as possible.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 8, 2013

MacAulay Addresses Lobster Prices on Floor of House of Commons

OTTAWA – Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay brought the issue of lobster prices to the floor of the House of Commons today in Question Period.

MacAulay questioned Fisheries and Oceans Minister Keith Ashfield in Wednesday’s Question Period as to whether the Conservative government has any plans to rectify the situation, saying, “This is an absolute disaster affecting an industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs. Is this just another way to cut the feet out from under the fishers in the Atlantic region or will the Conservative government work with the fishing industry to rectify this serious situation?”

He later added, “This is an incredibly serious issue which must be addressed immediately. With lobster being such a delicacy, and with demand for our lobster strong and markets expanding, this should never happen. We have to find out what’s going on and get to the bottom of it.”

“Lobster is one of the most important staples of our Island economy. If prices are unacceptable and our lobster fishers are suffering, then our entire Island suffers. We have to do everything we can to get this price raised.”

MacAulay has also introduced a motion to the House of Commons Fisheries Committee to look into the situation and call witnesses involved in the industry to testify.

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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about a great Prince Edward Islander.

Everett MacDougall was born on May 7, 1913, in West Cape, Prince Edward Island.

In 1948 he opened his own poultry and egg grading business in Vernon. He then started buying and shipping farm produce.

Shortly after, he was he approached by Canada Packers to start a Shur-Gain feed mill.

When a tragic fire struck five years later, Everett turned the disaster into an opportunity and built a new quality feed mill equipped with all modern equipment and employed 15 to 20 people.

Everett was very involved in community life, serving on the Bunbury Town Council for seven years and was an avid volunteer.

Everett is the oldest Mason on Prince Edward Island and will receive his 70-year pin this afternoon from Allison Coles, grand master for P.E.I. at Andrews Lodge.

On behalf of all members of the House of Commons, I want to wish Everett a very happy 100th birthday.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MacAulay Introduces Motion to Immediately Study Lobster Prices

May 7, 2013

OTTAWA - Cardigan MP and fisheries critic for the Liberal Party of Canada, Lawrence MacAulay, introduced a motion in the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans today to address the significantly low prices being paid to Atlantic Canadian lobster fishers.

Only a few short weeks ago, lobster fishers in Maine and Nova Scotia were receiving prices in the range of $8-10 per pound, but now fishers are only seeing around $3 per pound, while prices in stores and restaurants remain as high as ever.

“There is no doubt we have a very serious problem here”, said MacAulay. “People can’t make a living if prices keep going the way they are and the fact is the price has dropped considerably over the past few weeks. There are very serious questions which need to be answered.”

“I expect the Fisheries Committee to represent the best interests of Canadian lobster fishers, and take a close look at this problem and hear from those most closely involved in the industry. If there are any possible actions the government of Canada could do to help the situation, then steps must be taken as soon as possible.”

“I call on all members of the Fisheries Committee to vote in favour of my motion and let’s get to the bottom of this critical issue.”

Background:

MacAulay’s motion is as follows:

That, due to the significantly low prices being paid to Canadian lobster fishers and the critical importance of the lobster fishery in economic, social, and cultural terms, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans immediately call witnesses involved in the industry to discuss potential solutions, that the Committee make recommendations to the government of Canada on steps it can take to address the problems faced by the industry, and that the witness list include representatives of fish harvesting organizations, the Lobster Council of Canada, lobster processing companies, and provincial and federal fisheries officials.

]]> http://lawrencemacaulay.liberal.ca/news/black-tuesday-descends-prince-edward-island/ Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:42:29 +0000 Lawrence MacAulay https://lawrencemacaulay.liberal.ca/?p=650 News release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE        

April 9, 2013

Black Tuesday Descends on Prince Edward Island

Montague – Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay is calling today a sad day in the history of the town of Montague and all of eastern Prince Edward Island. Employees at P.E.I.’s only E.I. Claims Processing Centre in Montague have received their relocation letters from the federal government, as part of the Conservative’s decision to close the Montague Centre.

“This is absolutely one of the saddest days we’ve seen here in Montague”, said MacAulay. “Some employees have not even been offered relocation and will either be forced into early retirement or given the option to be put on a list for possible job openings in the area. This seems like an especially cruel joke as the Conservatives are continually gutting federal jobs from our area with no apparent plans to stop.”

“The rest of the employees will only have the possibility of employment if they are willing to move to another area of the country. This is a devastating blow to the Island. Rural P.E.I. needs these crucial federal jobs and services more than downtown Halifax or Ottawa or Toronto but the sad fact of the matter is there is no one at the Cabinet table for the current government who is willing to stand up for rural Prince Edward Island.”

“The Montague Claims Processing Centre has some of the best federal public service employees in the country who’ve won national awards for their work. The loss of the incredible service they’ve provided to Islanders combined with the reckless and devastating Conservative changes to E.I. will have severely negative consequences for Islanders for years to come.”

The budget also includes a cut of around $16 million a year for small craft harbours.

Does the government not realize that by continually slashing the budget of the department and continually slashing the small craft harbours budget it is destroying our Canadian fisheries?

“Not only does this budget include a cut of $100 million to DFO, it also contains misleading propaganda on our Small Craft Harbours”, said MacAulay.

“The Conservative budget announces $90 million a year over the next five years for Small Craft Harbours. This is major cut of at least $16 million per year on our wharves and harbours. It is absolutely unacceptable that the Conservatives would try to pass this off as a positive announcement.”

“This is on top of the $100 million cut to DFO in this budget. And that is on top of the $80 million cut to DFO in last year’s budget. This government just does not realize the absolute destruction it’s doing to DFO and to our fisheries and coastal communities.”

“These drastic cuts will not improve the economic viability and the sustainability of our fisheries. They will not fix our many harbours in need of repair. They will not bring back closed coast guard stations, scientists and researchers who have been fired, or protect fish habitat. They will only continue the Conservatives’ destruction of the department of fisheries and oceans.”

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OTTAWA – Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay says the Conservative government’s 2013 budget ignores Prince Edward Island and the needs of Islanders, and only rebrands already existing federal programs.

“After reviewing this budget, it is shamefully clear that even after all the backlash they’ve faced, and all the fights we’ve put up working together with Islanders, the province of Prince Edward Island does not matter one bit to this Conservative government”, said MacAulay.

“Recently I wrote to the Finance Minister and outlined many of the priorities needed to fix the damage his government has done to the Island, but unfortunately, the Minister chose to ignore my suggestions.”

“Instead, the Minister of Finance, the Minister responsible for P.E.I., and their entire government chose to continue on their course of action which has resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs and much-needed services on the Island. In fact, even with the recent gutting of DFO, the government found time to slash another $100 million from that department, which is so important to our province and region.”

“Rather than address the problems facing our region and our country, the government just decided to repackage existing programs and dollars and call it a new budget. Nothing new is being offered to Islanders and to Canadians to help create jobs, help people gain new skills, or improve the lives of people who are trying to make ends meet.”

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Hon. Lawrence MacAulay (Cardigan, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today and speak on the motion from my hon. colleague for Burnaby—Douglas. I want to thank him for introducing such an important motion.

On this side of the House, we fully understand the importance of having proper research and science in place in order to produce the best public policies for the benefit of all Canadians. Unfortunately, we have a government that does not believe in science. In fact, it is worse than that. We have a government that has launched an attack on science in this country. It has closed or cut funding to some of the best scientific research centres in Canada and has muzzled our scientists. This is absolutely unacceptable. Canadians have the right to know the results of our scientific research which is funded by tax dollars. However, we have seen many federal department crack down on what their scientists are allowed to say in public.

We know DFO’s new communication policy: Crack down hard on scientists. All interview requests are now forwarded to the minister’s office and they are routinely denied. This is truly hard to believe.

Within the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, many research centres have been negatively affected by the Conservative government. This department is in constant need of more science dollars for the survival of our many economically important fisheries throughout the country and for the survival of our oceans, lakes and rivers.

However, rather than ensure proper science funding for DFO, the Conservative government has slashed funding for many of its important research stations. These stations include: the Institute of Ocean Sciences, the Freshwater Institute, the Kluane Research Station, the Maurice Lamontagne Institute, the Gulf Fisheries Centre, the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, the St. Andrews Biological Station, as well as the experimental lakes area, which is one of the most important research areas in the country. This is only for DFO. Many more harmful scientific cuts have been made in other federal departments and programs.

The closure that I want to focus on and the one that I believe is perhaps the best example of the Conservative government’s shameful attack on science is the experimental lakes area, or the ELA.

The ELA is one of the world’s most well-renowned facilities for freshwater research. It is one of a kind and has produced a lot of critical information and policy over the last 40 years. Last spring, the government announced it would be ending the operation of the ELA. Later, the government stated that it would try to find a new operator by March 31, 2013.

This facility is located in northwestern Ontario. It includes 58 small lakes and is managed through a joint agreement between the Canadian and Ontario governments. It is truly a living natural laboratory for freshwater research and it is the only place in Canada where whole-lake ecosystem research can take place. In fact, it is the only place in the world where this type of research can take place.

The ELA has been crucial in developing evidence-based environmental policy, regulation and legislation, including regulations to control phosphorus on the Great Lakes.

ELA research led to Canada becoming the first country to ban phosphorus from laundry detergents. Other research led to legislation to curb acid rain production and demonstrated that reducing mercury emissions from burning fossil fuels will rapidly lower mercury levels in fish.

Ongoing research evaluates nitrogen removal from municipal waste water and the effects many household products could have on freshwater. Information produced at the ELA is also used by researchers across the country and around the world to investigate how climate change will affect Canada’s aquatic resources.

Research at the ELA also provides the scientific evidence required to manage commercial and recreational fisheries. Also, the fact that we can now conduct responsible monitoring in the oil sands is a direct result of invaluable research done at the ELA.

First nations chiefs in Ontario and Manitoba have called upon the Conservative government to reverse its decision to terminate the ELA. Four former regional director generals of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans have spoken out against this closure. Liberal members of Parliament have been actively fighting the closure and are working with the Coalition to Save ELA.

Last October, I introduced a motion for the fisheries committee to study the ELA, the research done at the facility, its impacts on public policy and the potential consequence of closing, remediating or transferring the ELA to a third party. I know my colleague from Etobicoke North did the same thing in the environment committee.

The ELA costs the federal government $2 million or less to operate per year. In fact, we are hearing that the ELA could keep going for as little as $600,000. However, closing the facility entirely could cost up to $50 million. The government is now saying the cost of closing the facility could be as low as $8 million, but we well know it is going to be a lot of millions. Either way, it seems the priorities of the government are severely misguided. For the cost of shutting down the ELA, the government could keep it open and Canadians, in fact the entire world, could benefit from its research for years to come, perhaps even decades to come, but the government would rather close up shop than keep this scientific research alive.

In fact, even though March 31 of this year was the date given for the government to find a new operator, we now know that the destruction of buildings on the site has already begun. It was also reported that scientists have been told to remove their belongings in preparation for the demolition of the site. There were rumours that the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the IISD, the Winnipeg-based United Nations think tank, is the only group known to be discussing the possible takeover of the facility. The IISD was not aware of the destruction that was taking place at the ELA.

This brings into serious doubt the government’s sincerity to actually transfer the facility over to a new operator. It is certainly my fear and the fear of all members on this side of the House that it is not its intention at all. It is my fear that the research produced by the ELA does not go along with the government’s agenda and it has decided to shut it down no matter what it costs. Canadians will be the ones who bear the cost of the closure of this facility, not only for the millions of dollars it would take to shut the facility down and clean up the site but also for the loss of all the possible research and policy the ELA could have produced for decades into the future.

For a country like ours where nature is such an iconic symbol, to lose one of our most important natural research facilities is beyond belief. It is a black eye on the country, along with many other policies of the government. It has severely damaged our reputation on the international stage. The government repeatedly says that it is closing the ELA because it no longer fits the core mandate of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. I find this excuse completely unacceptable.

I hope government members will look at what is in fact taking place: the destruction of the scientific community across Canada, the muzzling of scientists, making sure that we do not have the best possible scientific advice in order to put policy in place for this country. Again, I urge government members across the way to take a look at this, support this very important motion and save the scientific work that is so important for fisheries and other aspects across this country.

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Hon. Lawrence MacAulay: Mr. Speaker, I respect my hon. colleague, but I certainly do not respect his thoughts on science and what the government has cut.

The fact is that in the last budget, the government cut $1.3 million from the National Research Council of Canada and by 2014-15 it has projected to be cut by $16.3 million. The Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada has lost $15 million and by the end of 2014-2015 will lose $30 million.

Fisheries and Oceans needs more money. It is an important industry across the country along both coasts and in our lakes and rivers. It was cut last year by $3.8 million and is projected to be cut by about $80 million.

Is that what the government calls taking care of an industry? In my opinion, that is destroying an industry. The government is just concerned that it will receive information from the scientists that it does not want to receive.

My hon. colleague is not a scientist and neither am I, but I would rely on the scientists, not on my hon. colleague.