DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

MONDAY, MAY 31, 2010
Morning Sitting - Private Members' Motions

MOTION 14 — SUSTAINABLE WILD
SALMON STOCK AND AQUACULTURE

R. Fleming: I thank the member for Saanich South for putting this motion on the floor of the assembly this morning for debate. I don't think that any member of the assembly would doubt that our iconic Pacific salmon species are at risk, that they require government leadership, that they require a series of targeted, long-term actions to ensure the health of stocks on the west coast for generations to come.

It was after the sockeye collapse last August 2009 that that year was dubbed the official beginning of the salmon crisis of the new century by columnist Stephen Hume. Yet this crisis has been met with absolute silent indifference by the B.C. Liberal government in the months that followed the collapse of that sockeye run. Just a few months after we saw that 90 percent decline on the mighty Fraser, we saw 40,000 farmed Atlantic salmon escape from Marine Harvest open-net fish farm in the Broughton Archipelago.

In that case the B.C. Liberal government couldn't even describe what actions they were taking to recover those fish. That was a glimpse into how bad and how pathetic the state of fisheries management and the resources that were put into managing our fishing stocks were. That was a revelation about how poor the situation has become in British Columbia.

It is incredible how many British Columbians from all walks of life who may or may not have a connection to our coast, to the salmon fishery directly but do have a shared concern about the sustainability and the future of wild salmon in B.C…. This includes diverse interests like the commercial fishery, the sport fishers, independent scientists, First Nations — organizations and individuals who don't always agree but now agree that there has never been a time that requires more unity and a sense of urgency for concerted, coordinated action.

Again, I contrast that feeling, which is widespread, with the actions of this government — or the lack of actions. This government has no plan to help wild salmon recover and thrive in the future. When they're presented with research that links pesticide runoffs to the decline in salmon returns and their survival, they do nothing to keep those substances out of our waterways.

When the Forest Practices Board issues a report in 2009 that establishes that 40 percent of the 1,000 cutblocks surveyed showed damage to salmon-bearing riparian areas, again, the B.C. Liberals do nothing to right that situation.

They ignore the Pacific Salmon Forum's recommendations on watershed protection. They ignore the Fraser Basin Council's warning about that river system. They ignore industry groups. They ignore environmental NGOs. They ignore the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. They ignore everyone who is trying to get through to this government that there is a sense of urgency, that there is a salmon crisis in British Columbia. That's what this government does.

Now, let's match up the words with the actions. You know, it wasn't that many years ago — it was 2005 — that this government boldly declared that B.C. will have the best fisheries management in the world, bar none. Do you remember that golden goal, Madam Chair? I know you do.

Today we have a government that has silently surrendered any fisheries management role to Ottawa and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Imagine going from saying we will be the best in the world to saying that we will have no role in fisheries management. That's what this government has done. That's what speaks to the last five years in particular of B.C. Liberal rule.

The Minister of the Environment expressed concern in August with the sockeye collapse numbers — that he had no confidence in the DFO. He had no confidence in Ottawa's ability to get the science right and to know what was happening in our waters. Yet he has not lifted a finger to keep B.C.'s role in comanaging the salmon fishery. It's incredible to me that this is being allowed to occur. B.C. didn't even bother to defend our comanagement of this resource in the Supreme Court. We dropped our right to appeal the transfer of fisheries control to Ottawa.

It wasn't a question of money, Madam Speaker. It wasn't a question of not being able to hire lawyers to defend B.C.'s rights to comanage our fisheries, because at the same time that we declined to appeal in that court, the B.C. Liberals were sparing no expense in appealing challenges to Bill 42, the gag law.

Do you remember that one — that controversial bill that imposed severe restrictions on political expression by third parties? That law has come into public view again, because there are B.C. Liberal constituencies that are finding themselves charged by prosecutors for breaking that law.

That was appealed. Fisheries in British Columbia was not. It's incredible to me, the sense of misplaced priorities of this government. The future of salmon, our role in managing our coast was surrendered without any appeal from this government, and the Minister of Agriculture is negotiating right now to complete that transfer behind closed doors. I ask you, Madam Chair and members in this House: can you imagine a single Premier from any of the Atlantic provinces surrendering control over their coastal fisheries management without an agreement that clearly spells out what the shared jurisdiction is going to be; without identifying resources that will rebuild wild fish stocks to sustainable levels; without providing for ongoing consultation, approval and oversight of this resource? Not a chance. There is not a single Atlantic Canada Premier that would tolerate this situation, but the Premier of this province has allowed exactly that to happen.

I know that other members are going to speak to a plan that will work for B.C., a plan that this government has failed to implement.

I want to speak to one item, though, before I conclude, and that is the failure of this government to transition our aquaculture to a sustainable, environmentally safe future with closed-containment technology. They've failed to do that while presiding over this decline in our wild stocks.

You know, they brought in a budget this year, $400 million for Highway 37 to help the mining industry — not a penny to help the aquaculture industry move to closed containment technology. Not a single R-and-D grant to do that technology.

We could be leaders. We could be creating green jobs on our coast. We could have the world beating down our door for patents if we get to that technology first. We could show the world that something's happening here in British Columbia.

This government won't support it. They failed to do it year after year, even when their own all-party Finance Committee has recommended exactly that. Madam Speaker, that speaks very poorly to the sustainability of wild salmon in our future, and that's another reason why we need to change the government.