44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 26, 2022 11:00AM
- Sep/26/22 2:47:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, hurricane Fiona has caused devastation in communities across Atlantic Canada. This lobster season has already been a tough one, with bait and fuel prices high and the price of lobster low. Fishermen have lost three days in this short but critical season. The search for gear and the resetting of traps will ruin more than a week. Fishing wharves have been heavily damaged, including Escuminac.
Will the minister show support for our fishermen and extend the lobster season?
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- Sep/26/22 9:54:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Atlantic Canadians are well used to preparing for hurricanes and tropical storms. These storms are part of life in the Atlantic provinces. Atlantic Canadians are prepared, and they expect their federal government to be as well.
In my own constituency of Miramichi—Grand Lake, in living memory, in 1959, the remnants of a hurricane brought 50-foot waves and 100-miles-per-hour winds, claiming 35 lives and 22 boats in what has become known as the Escuminac disaster. So tragic was this event that at the time the late Queen Elizabeth II herself donated to the New Brunswick fishermen's disaster fund. Stories of that storm and its tragic aftermath continue to be told today, 60 years after the incident. I had the privilege of speaking at the 60th anniversary.
As we all know, post-tropical storm Fiona raged through Atlantic Canada this past weekend, and that is the very purpose of this debate tonight. I wonder what stories will be told 60 years from now about its aftermath. How will the current Liberal government be immortalized in the minds of Atlantic Canadians? It is not lost on anyone in the Atlantic provinces that when polling numbers started to be reported in 2015, when the current Prime Minister was elected, Atlantic Canada delivered for him at the time. Almost every seat in Atlantic Canada was delivered to him. However, now that we need him the most, where is he? The government has abandoned Atlantic Canada when we needed it the most.
One of the most important duties of a federal government is to keep its citizens safe. Post-tropical storm Fiona has devastated homes and communities and infrastructure in all Atlantic Canadian provinces. Hundreds of thousands remain without power, and it will be anywhere from days to weeks before the hardest-hit areas get restored. Some in Atlantic Canada cannot afford the fuel to put in a generator, and some of our citizens cannot afford the generator. There are many people in Atlantic Canada who are struggling, who are going to be colder than they were, and there are people in need all over the Atlantic provinces.
I have spoken today with the Premier of New Brunswick and briefly with the Premier of Nova Scotia. The premiers have conveyed to me that, while obviously in New Brunswick we did not get hit as hard as some of the other Atlantic provinces, still there are wellness checks that are not happening. Those are a concern in Nova Scotia. There are also roads that are impassable, and cell and mobility coverage in Atlantic Canada is already terrible. We all know that. Now we have entire communities going with one bar and sometimes none at all. There is not enough service.
Why is the failed ArriveCAN app more important than the public safety of Canadians? One of the most basic responsibilities of the federal government is to keep Canadians safe. This past weekend, post-tropical storm Fiona raged through Atlantic Canada, devastating communities and damaging critical infrastructure. This storm did not come as a surprise. Those in the storm's path had many days to prepare as best they could. The federal government, too, had many days to prepare. Today, there are still hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in Atlantic Canada without electricity and counting on power crews from outside the province and from our neighbours in the United States to help get the devastation under control.
CBC News is reporting that senior officials in the Liberal government have confirmed that their failed ArriveCAN app will no longer be mandatory as of October 1. This failed $17-million pandemic restriction has overreached into the basic rights of Canadians. The government was standing by as these restrictions delayed the arrival of much-needed utility workers to my region. In five days, these restrictions will disappear anyway. Why are the Liberals allowing it to delay the restoration of electricity and critical infrastructure in Atlantic Canada?
Let us think about that. When this app was created, many in the technology world said it could have been created for a million dollars. The government spent upward of $17 million or $18 million. I forget the exact number.
Therefore, $17 million or $18 million was spent for an app, which was $16 million too much. It was a failure from the outset, and now it is prohibiting New England power crews from getting there to help Atlantic Canadians. That is a total failure. It cannot be looked at any other way.
There is one thing I can say about Atlantic Canadians. I believe we could take the majority of citizens in my riding, blindfold them, put them in a helicopter, drop them in any wilderness in this country and they could survive. I would lay money on it that.
Atlantic Canadians are tough. They live in rugged terrain. They have had storms dating back to 1775. For 100 years before Confederation and a good 150 years after, they did not blame these storms on something called climate change. There were several ice storms in New Brunswick when I was a provincial MLA, including hurricane Arthur.
There have been some very serious storms of recent memory, serious flooding as well, and the one thing I can recall is that Atlantic Canadians persevere. We are known for that across the country. Atlantic Canadians were known for that in World War II and the First World War. Veterans were known for that. There are so many things that we are known for across the country. This is going to bring out the resiliency of Atlantic Canadians.
However, as the official opposition, we want the government to act with vigour. We want it to do the job well so that Atlantic Canadians know they are getting the support they need. On this side of the floor, we are going to be there to make sure that the government delivers for Atlantic Canadians. That is our job on this side of the House, and we are very concerned with some of it.
I have seen some of the footage from Newfoundland, devastating footage in places like Port aux Basques. I could not believe what I was seeing. I saw a lot of pictures and digital imaging from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and clearly there is a lot of damage. One of the things that is damaged in Miramichi—Grand Lake is, as I mentioned, the Escuminac Wharf. In my region of Baie Sainte Anne, Escuminac and Hardwicke, the fishery is paramount. It is paramount throughout my riding, region and province.
The lobster fishery, as we know, is going to lose a minimum of one week because it has already lost three days. Fishers are going to spend the next two or three days locating their gear, which is scattered across the bay and coastal areas. Some of that gear will not be recovered. They are going to have to reset all the traps. Lobster fishermen are actually going to lose at least one week, so Conservatives are also calling on the government to extend the lobster fishery by at least a week. It may need to be longer, but we are looking for an extension on the lobster season because it is a critical season in my province. I want to make sure that small craft harbours are very much on the radar of the government because there is never quite enough money spent on that, and right now there is a direct need.
I want to mention that I will be splitting my time with the great member for Tobique—Mactaquac, which I forgot to mention in my introduction. We are all a little rusty since the summer. It will be great to hear his speech.
Lastly, we on this side of the floor are here to support Atlantic Canada. Conservatives and our Atlantic Canadian colleagues are working together. We have great leadership from our leader, and we are all working as a team in the best interests of Atlantic Canada. We are going to be there for them, and we are going to ensure that the government has the backs of Atlantic Canadians, like it says it does, because we have their backs on this side of the floor.
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- Sep/26/22 10:04:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think what I was trying to insinuate is that, as the opposition, when we look at climate change, we think we should fight it with advancements to technology.
The current government, supported by the very member who asked me this question, have not hit a single target. If the NDP and Liberal coalition were actually concerned about climate change and actually considered it a crisis, then they would have actually created a system that would meet a target. They have not met a single target, so I do not think I can take any advice from members of either of those caucuses, Liberal or NDP. If they actually believed it were serious, they would have hit a target.
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- Sep/26/22 10:05:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do appreciate that the member and I can agree on the initial part of her question.
I think that, on this side of the floor, we understand the importance of the Bay du Nord project. We also understand that those living in New Brunswick had an Energy East pipeline, which was going to bring oil from Alberta to New Brunswick. We did not do that. We also had a natural gas supply. Right now, our allies in western Europe are getting supplied with their energy source from Russia, and Putin is fuelling the war machine with the proceeds of selling that product to England, France and Germany, countries that we are allies with.
I think the climate agenda of the left and the extreme far left has contributed to the power dynamic in the world right now. I think we had a huge missed opportunity with the Energy East pipeline. We should absolutely support it again, along with the Bay du Nord project. Now is the time we should be thinking about energy sovereignty, energy security, building pipelines and infrastructure, powering our country and helping our allies so that they do not have to purchase from the people who want to wage war against other countries from this planet.
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- Sep/26/22 10:08:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, obviously, we have first responders on the ground. We have utility companies from within the provinces and outside from New England and maybe further. Obviously, we need as much help on the electrical side of it as possible.
In some of the storms we have had in New Brunswick in recent years, we found that when the armed forces showed up it really made a difference. Although it may not be their mandate, they made a huge difference when they came in. Any extra help we can get from the armed forces would be great. I think the current government has to really look at that very closely and very quickly.
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