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Gord Johns

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
NDP

Courtenay—Alberni
British Columbia
Voting Attendance: 66%
Expenses Last Quarter: $148,159.67

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 321 - May/31/24

May/31/24 12:35:53 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am sad that I did not get an answer. I do not want to be dragging my colleague, my friend, in here at 12:35 a.m. to try to get an answer and still not get an answer. I will probably have to do this again, I hate to tell him and inform the House. We know polystyrene and plastic is literally choking our ocean. There was a movie just put out by Rick Smith called Plastic People. I recommend everybody watch it. It is affecting human health. There is a solution. We could create an ecosystem service fee, a small fee on trans cargo shipment units and on the industrial use of plastics in the aquaculture industry, and use that like the government does with marine response. We have West Coast oil response in my community. That could be replicated when it comes to plastic pollution, something that my good colleague from Nanaimo—Ladysmith, is working on. I am working with her on that as well. Maybe the member could speak about a solution that does not end this program and kill all that important infrastructure, and then come back to the House.

199 words

Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Apr/30/24 1:55:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my good friend, Joshua Charleson from Hesquiaht nation, the former elected chief of Hesquiaht nation, who works for Coastal Restoration Society, is here in town to talk about the importance of a restoration economy when it comes to cleaning up our waterways and our oceans. We had a historic program, a ghost gear fund, that was world class, and the Liberal government cut it out of the budget. It was critical in removing things like polystyrene and fishing gear that infect and that impact our ecosystem. In terms of food security, it had a really big impact on indigenous peoples in particular, on their traditional and cultural needs, and on the blue economy. I know that my colleague lives on a waterway and that he cares deeply about the environment. Is he also disappointed that the Liberal government cut this historic program? Just after we finished an international convention with the United Nations on combatting plastic pollution, what did the government do? It cut historic programs. That is not leadership.

172 words

Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Apr/30/24 10:11:48 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank my colleague for the kind words and for his advocacy. It is an honour to present a petition on behalf of constituents of mine from Tofino, Ahousaht and Clayoquot Sound. They are citing concerns around migrating juvenile wild salmon stocks, which are under serious threats from pathogens, pollutants and sea lice originating from open-net cage farms. They cite that wild salmon support first nations' cultural traditions and complex ecosystems, including contributing to coastal forests, which produce the oxygen we breathe. They are calling on the federal government to remove open-net pen fish farms from B.C. waters by 2025, including with legislation aimed at immediately stopping the transfer of PRV-infected smolts into open-net pen fish farms and completing the transition of open-net pen fish farms to land-based closed containment by 2025. They are also calling for a transition plan that includes a conservation financing package that compensates first nations and businesses that would be impacted by the removal of open-net salmon farms in their territories, as well as the local businesses that would be impacted. Pacific salmon runs on British Columbia's coast are in a state of emergency. It is very important that the federal government listen to these petitioners.

215 words

Context: House Hansard - 77 - May/31/22

Mr. Gord Johns

May/31/22 12:04:39 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, will the minister commit to taking a whole-of-ecosystem management-based approach? She has heard me talk about this endlessly, because we see harvests of some species impacting other species. Will she gear her department to take a whole-of-ecosystem management approach, especially with the blue economy?

51 words

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Member of Parliament

Gord Johns