44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 2, 2021 10:00AM
- Dec/2/21 1:35:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I rise in this place to deliver my maiden speech, like all members, I feel a great sense of responsibility, honour and commitment to the people of my community who have entrusted me with their voice.
Like all members, my ability to stand here is a result of a team effort of family, friends and volunteers who believe in all of us.
For me, it has been a long journey, starting with my service for eight years as a ministerial assistant in the Mulroney and Campbell governments. I learned so much from those whom I worked for, from MP Bill Attewell, to ministers of the Crown, the Hon. Barbara McDougall and the Hon. Peter McCreath. I must thank them for their mentorship and guidance.
I must also acknowledge my wife Wendy Waite whom I met when she was working for the Hon. Pat Carney and the Right Hon. Kim Campbell. Free trade brought us together, but I can tell members about that another time. She has supported my lifelong journey to this place like no other.
I acknowledge my parents Rosemarie Borgald Perkins and William Perkins, who instilled in me the belief of possibilities and the need for hard work to achieve those possibilities. My mother's family landed in Lunenburg 277 years ago, in 1753. I am the eighth generation in a row to live in my community.
Two other people I need to thank out of the hundreds of volunteers are my campaign anchors for seven years in South Shore—St. Margarets. Evelyn Snyder and Rick Muzyk have been with me on this journey since 2014. It started with my nomination campaign against Richard Clark. I could not stand in this place without their support and belief.
When I had the great privilege of joining members of all sides last Tuesday to march to the other place to listen to the Speech from the Throne, I had high expectations that issues that were of concern to my community would be addressed. While I stood behind our Speaker in the other place, I was sorely disappointed.
As I listened to the rehashed broken promises of the 2015 Liberal platform, it reminded me of one of the most famous quotes by the Right Hon. Kim Campbell when speaking of a political opponent. She said that style “without substance is a dangerous thing.” Style without substance appears to be the theme the PMO speech writers were thinking of when they wrote this document. I say this because the most important industry in my province and my riding is the fishery. There was no mention of the importance of the fishery in the throne speech. There was no mention of our forest products industry. There was no word said about tourism.
From Peggy's Cove to Chester, from Lunenburg to Liverpool, from New Ross to Mahone Bay, from Cape Sable Island to Shag Harbour, my community was looking for their concerns to be in the throne speech. My constituents were looking for a commitment from the government that we would all work toward more access to the commercial fishery for first nations, a commitment that this access be granted on the same rules and enforcement measures to which all commercial fisherman were subject. We have seasons for a reason.
My community was looking for a commitment that any public policy on the moderate livelihood fishery be developed in compliance with the legal framework of the Supreme Court's Marshall decisions, not outside of them as has been done so far.
When I was speaking with lobster fishermen Vincent Boutilier, Sandie Stoddard and Bobby Hynes, they expressed little surprise that the fishery was not mentioned. They said that over the last six years they had come to expect nothing but more bureaucracy from the Liberal government and more initiatives aimed at making it more difficult to earn a living from the sea. They recognized that the attacks by the the government on the fishery, whether through reduced quotas backed by questionable research, increased regulation and the threat of targeted marine protected areas aimed at shutting down the industry, were insidious ways the Liberals were using the smokescreen of conservation to reduce commercial fishing.
People who earn a living from the sea were looking for some recognition from the Liberals on the need for predation policy, a invasive species policy. There is an explosive growth of seals and sea lions, which is devastating our Atlantic and Pacific fish species. The government claims to care about the biodiversity of our oceans, but it has no policy and makes no effort to try to get our oceans back in balance.
The fishing communities were looking for some indication from the government that it acknowledged that it had made a huge mistake in the clawback from the fishermen who received the COVID-19 fish harvester benefit.
When launching this benefit during the COVID crisis, the government said, “Our fisheries operate under a unique structure and have faced distinct challenges throughout this pandemic.” The Liberals bragged about how hard they had worked to get it right, and now they have it wrong and are attacking the men and women at the back of the boat.
Let me explain. Almost all fishermen are paid a share of the profits from the catch, not a regular wage. Since the days of commercial whaling, this is how it has been. I know all members have likely read the book Moby Dick. In this classic, the narrator of the tale, Ishmael, explains the following. “I was already aware that in the whaling business they paid no wages; but all hands, including the captain, received certain shares—
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- Dec/2/21 1:42:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this tradition made it into the application process for the government's fish harvester benefit as a recognition that the traditional wage earner COVID benefits did not work for fishermen. The application the government put forward stated five situations which qualified for benefits. It recognized the centuries of pay structure for fishermen. DFO's application stated one of the types of fishermen's pay that was eligible, “sharepersons...who are crew members who earn a share of the revenue”, which is bang on. Therefore, why is the government taking it back from them? It is bait and switch, the Liberal approach to everything.
The federal government is demanding that 4,193 Canadian fishermen repay $25.8 million in COVID-relief assistance. More than half the fishermen issued overpayment letters are in Nova Scotia.
Travis Nickerson of Clark's Harbour in my riding received an overpayment letter. Travis said that the situation was a mess. He said, “They gave me something when I really needed it, and now they want it back.” Nickerson is paid a share of the catch. He saw his income drop in the first half of 2020 when COVID-19 crushed the demand for lobster worldwide.
The share-based earnings are evident, and there is record of employment, like all other fishermen. It is easy to see, yet the government seems to have its own departments fighting each other. It is time for the Minister of Fisheries to step up and do her job for all fishermen.
I will be relentless in speaking out for our fishermen, our forestry workers, our agriculture workers and our tourism businesses. All are being ignored and harmed by the government. When the chapter of the government is written in the history books, it will be a slim chapter of achievement. It will likely be titled with that great quote from Kim Campbell “Style without substance.”
As my friend Peter MacKay once said, it will take more than fancy socks and curly locks to run a government that cares about the hard-working Canadians in our resource industry.
This war on the resource industries has to stop. It is time for the government to recognize that the social programs we love, the jobs in Toronto office towers and the competitive advantage we have as a country are all as a result of our resources. Destroying them puts all of what we cherish at risk.
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- Dec/2/21 1:45:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is funny that a Liberal member would ask about consistency since the Liberals have promised child care six elections in a row and we have not seen one day care space.
With regard to the CERB and the fish harvester benefit, the member probably does not know and understand, since he is from a non-fishing riding in Winnipeg North, although I am not sure, that 99% of fisherman are paid by a percentage of the catch, and they have been for hundreds of years. That is why they did not qualify for CERB. CERB was for wage earners who were paid a regular wage. Fisherman are paid like a commissioned sales worker when they are at the back of the boat.
A special program, which we supported, was designed. It was a properly designed program with a proper application. The problem is that it was designed by DFO, but Revenue Canada does not understand how fishermen are paid. It just looks at a T4, notes that they are employees in the box and it wants their money back. The two departments will not talk to each other. All they have to do is look at the record of employment, see the week-by-week earnings and they will have the solution, but that is too complicated for the Liberal government.
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- Dec/2/21 1:48:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not believe the Speech from the Throne talked about intellectual property rights, another failing by the Liberal government to not address the concerns of many of our people. Absolutely, it was a fantastic thing that the whole world was able to get together, including businesses, to quickly develop a vaccine so we could control the spread of COVID. That is thanks to all the work of these global companies that produced a vaccine in record time, for which we should all be thankful.
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- Dec/2/21 1:49:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I found that issue concerning, but also enlightening. Nobody wants to see the member for Kingston and the Islands living naked in a forest, including himself.
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- Dec/2/21 2:34:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, fishermen saw their income drop drastically in 2020 due to COVID. Thousands of Canadian fishermen received special COVID benefits because they are paid a share of profits, not a weekly wage. This year the government flip-flopped and demanded money back for the benefits the government said they were entitled to.
Will fishermen who are paid a share of profits, not a wage, get the fish harvester benefit, yes or no?
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- Dec/2/21 2:36:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister clearly does not understand that her government has sent out 5,000 clawback letters to fishermen.
Nova Scotia's winter lobster season started yesterday. Fishermen are in the frigid North Atlantic in the winter with the Atlantic Ocean crashing over them, risking their lives to catch the food we need. They should not be worried about paying back to the government the thousands of dollars in COVID benefits they were entitled to.
Will fishermen who are paid a share of profits, not a wage, be allowed to keep the fishermen's harvest benefit, yes or no?
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