- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- NDP
- Courtenay—Alberni
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $148,159.67
- Government Page
- Feb/26/24 2:55:16 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, for almost three years, the Liberals have let a ship-breaking company in Union Bay bend the rules, and it is putting locals at risk. A boat filled with asbestos is being broken apart in sensitive fish and shellfish habitats, which could cause irrevocable harm and cost 500 people their jobs. The B.C. government, local first nations and residents say that the Liberals are failing to protect Union Bay.
When will the Liberals finally stop allowing this dangerous activity and further develop ship-breaking regulations to protect our local jobs and our environment?
96 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/24/23 10:20:23 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table this petition on behalf of residents from Hornby Island, Denman Island and Deep Bay on Vancouver Island.
The petitioners are calling on the government to postpone licensing further shellfish aquaculture facilities located near herring spawning and rearing habitat in Baynes Sound until a full ecosystem-based assessment is completed on the impacts of this industry's activities on the herring stock, and that they also establish a record of effectively managing their gear and equipment and pay for the cleanup of tonnes of plastic debris. Further, they ask for the development of a co-management plan for Baynes Sound and Lambert Channel with first nations; this should be area-based and ecosystem-based, recognizing the first nations' unceded traditional territories.
128 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/20/23 12:12:05 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, for two years, the Liberal government has let a ship-breaking company in Union Bay break rules in sensitive fish habitats. This could put this important ecosystem, and 50% of the B.C. shellfish industry, at risk, threatening up to 500 jobs and the local economy.
Local first nations, governments and residents are asking the Liberals to stop extending the permit that allows Miller Freeman to sit above the high tide zone. Will the government stop allowing this dangerous activity and further develop ship-breaking regulations to protect coastal communities?
92 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/25/23 10:06:15 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to table this petition on behalf of Denman Islanders from my riding. They are calling on the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to persevere in her restorative aims and use all tools in the sustainable fisheries framework to postpone licensing any further shellfish aquaculture facilities located in or near herring spawning and rearing habitat until an ecosystem-based assessment is completed, especially in Baynes Sound and Lambert Channel. They ask that the industry establish a record of effectively managing its own gear and equipment, pay for the cleanup costs of the tons of plastic debris it produces annually and develop, with first nations, a co-management plan for Baynes Sound and Lambert Channel.
123 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/17/23 7:36:47 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I am rising again in the House, as I have on multiple occasions, to warn the government of the risks posed by unregulated shipbreaking.
This originates from a question in November 2022. On November 24, an oil spill was discovered on the shoreline of a shipbreaking facility that has been operating since 2020 in the community of Union Bay in my riding. This facility is operating despite legal challenges and warnings of environmental hazards from residents, local government and first nations. Now, a spill has happened, and the lack of federal regulations and guidelines to protect the ecosystem is glaring. The spill has led to serious concerns for Baynes Sound, which is home to over 50% of British Columbia's shellfish production and is critical to the local economy and many jobs. In addition, of course, there is the importance of the ecosystem.
I have spoken in the House about the lack of federal regulation of shipbreaking, as I cited, and have called on the government to take action to prevent such an incident.
I want to take members back to 2016, when I, Chief Councillor Recalma from the Qualicum Nation, our former MLA Scott Wilson, local shellfish owners and workers, tourism operators and locally elected officials had to go out on boats and take media to shine a light on the lack of response from government when it came to abandoned and derelict vessels.
There were two boats that had been sitting there, and the previous Conservative government had promised for a decade to remove them. The boats were threatening jobs. They were the Silver King and the Laurier II, and it took all of our pressure to finally get the government to respond and remove those vessels. What we do not want is a repeat of a long delay. We do not want the Liberals to go the way of the Conservatives and delay in responding to really important issues at hand.
Again, we applied pressure last time, and the government responded. We are hoping it will respond now, but we need to shift from a reactionary to a precautionary approach to prevent incidents like these. Instead of waiting for another spill, the government should urgently ratify the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, adopt regulations comparable to the EU's ship recycling regulations and provide financial support to qualified shipbreaking facilities to help them meet new standards and regulations. We know the government is in a consultation phase with the provinces, but it needs to fast-track that.
I want to highlight that the government's lack of response has really put the local economy and the environment at risk, but also right now we are learning that Transport Canada has no monitoring or enforcement of hazardous materials on board international vessels being shipped across Canada's border. There is only a voluntary certificate, which is done through Environment and Climate Change Canada, and it is effectively a self-reporting honour system. This is just unbelievable. There is the risk this puts on coastal communities, and it is also putting all the risk on provinces, first nations and indigenous communities and on local governments, which is totally irresponsible.
We need to look at what the EU has done when it comes to shipbreaking and recycling, as well as at the Hong Kong act.
I am really hopeful the government will take action and take a precautionary approach, and I am hoping today it is going to give us some sort of path to how it is going to remedy the situation before an environmental disaster takes place, even further to what is happening now.
616 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Sep/21/22 3:41:07 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table e-petition 3965 signed by 707 signatories. They are petitioning the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, whom they cite aims to restore Pacific herring stocks to enable this keystone species to play its vital role in sustaining Pacific salmon populations and the marine ecosystem.
The undersigned citizens call upon the minister to, first, postpone licensing any further shellfish aquaculture facilities located in or near herring spawning and rearing habitat in Baynes Sound and Lambert Channel until an ecosystem-based assessment is completed on the impacts of this industry's activities on the herring stock, and this industry establishes a record of effectively managing its gear and equipment and pays for the cleanup of the tons of plastic debris it produces annually. They also ask the minister to develop, with first nations, a co-management plan for Baynes Sound and Lambert Channel that is area-based and ecosystem-based, and respects and recognizes unceded traditional territories and this location's unique value as an ecologically and biologically significant area and important bird and biodiversity area with 21 salmon-bearing creeks and herring spawning and rearing grounds.
197 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
