MP John Weston’s recent comments on the shutdown of the controversial commercial fishery on Howe Sound highlight how out of touch the Conservative Party is on Fisheries Management.
Having had countless meetings with John Weston as part of the Sea to Sky Fisheries Roundtable, I do appreciate the opportunities he’s provided to meet with him, fellow Conservative MPs and the fisheries minister. However, in my opinion, concrete action to protect wild salmon never really surfaced.
Weston has gone on the record stating his “government is fostering a culture where we are continuously improving.” I have to shake my head. He has suggested that the gutting of the Fisheries Act by the Conservatives improved the focus of the regulations on “fisheries protection.”
I have to ask myself, does anybody buy this anymore? West Coast Environmental Law states the Conservatives “gutted fish habitat protections, removed legal protection of some fish species, [and] removed legal protection of over 99 per cent of Canada’s lakes and rivers.”
The Conservatives also cut Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) fisheries habitat staff, closing 5 DFO offices, including one in Weston’s riding. Is this good for salmon protection?
They also put the National Energy Board (instead of DFO) in charge of assessing potential impacts from pipelines to fish and fish habitat. This is despite the echo from experts, repeating the “NEB has no expertise to do this type of work.”
And what of the 75 recommendations of the $37 million Cohen Inquiry into the collapse of Fraser River sockeye where over 573,381 documents were examined and 133 days of testimony were heard? This unprecedented investigation and its final report and recommendations has been virtually shelved and ignored by the Conservative government. Fraser River Sockeye are on the verge of collapse, with abysmal returns this year. Our local Birkenhead River Sockeye is a shadow of itself.
I just don’t see on how things have improved, John. Perhaps you could participate in a public town hall meeting before the election to explain things? Or an all-candidates meeting on wild salmon and habitat?
Dave Brown
Sea to Sky Fisheries Roundtable
Whistler
