The trouble with a hammer is that every problem becomes a nail. The trouble with someone who has decided to take a strident ideological viewpoint is that everything becomes black and white.
Dave Brown has, at times, provided valuable input to my work as a fisheries activist in the Conservative caucus. However, his diatribe in The Squamish Chief (“Letter: Conservatives ‘out of touch’ on fisheries,” Sept. 3) turns a blind eye to the many things I and the Conservative government have accomplished in this riding in support of sustainable fisheries.
These efforts are working. I read in The Coast Reporter on Sept. 3 (“Record salmon return celebrated”) that Sechelt First Nation has witnessed a significant increase in pink salmon runs this year – and they praised Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans for its close collaboration with the Nation. Sechelt Creek, for instance, has seen approximately 58,000 pink salmon this year; that’s up from just 16,000 in 2013.
My efforts include:
• A $2 million investment in the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s “Salish Sea Survival Project.” Coming after over two years of collaboration between my team and the volunteer-driven Pacific Salmon Foundation, the funds will go directly to the foundation’s efforts to investigate the factors affecting the survival of juvenile salmon in the Georgia Strait area.
• The creation of the groundbreaking Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program. The program received $10 million from the 2013 federal budget and $15 million in the 2014 budget to fund habitat enhancement.
• More than $57 million in federal investments on May 22, 2015 toward research facilities, marine protection and research on Pacific salmon, including $2.2 million in federal investment in the DFO Laboratory and its scientists in West Vancouver.
This is all in addition to the growing Salmonid Enhancement Program, which operates 23 salmon hatcheries and spawning channels, and works to restore fish habitats. With an operating budget of $26 million this year, it works with community groups, schools and volunteer organizations such as the Streamkeepers. Over the past 10 years, more than 3.5 billion fish have been released through this program.
A party in government governs for all 34 million people; it must stimulate the economy, promote jobs and spend taxpayers’ money responsibly. We may all disagree with aspects of the government’s program, but should not forget the big picture.
And let’s not reduce our thinking to the black-and-white world, where every problem is a nail, and every solution, a hammer.
John Weston
West Vancouver – Sunshine Coast – Sea to Sky Country MP
