Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said decisions about fishing should be left to experts, not committees in Ottawa, during a rally in Duncan over the weekend.
A packed crowd gathered in Duncan to voice concerns about the direction of the industry and how it could affect livelihoods, the local economy and the future of hatcheries on the West Coast.
Poilievre said decisions on the $1.9-billion industry, which he said employs 9,000 people on Vancouver Island, should be made by front-line workers, not “bureaucrats.”
“We should be leaving more decision-making power to both recreational and commercial fish harvesters here in British Columbia,” he said. “The resource needs to be conserved, and the common property resource needs to be protected, so every Canadian can enjoy recreation and commercial fishing.”
Poilievre said fishing in Canada plays a major role in the economy and commercial fisheries should remain in the hands of licence holders so they can contribute to their local communities.
“People who run the commercial, who do the work, should be in charge and own the licenses and quota,” he said.
Poilievre said the Fisheries and Oceans Canada has released a paper outlining a proposal to remove the Common Property Principle, a move he said could devastate the industry across Canada.
“Salmon are a common property resource,” he said. “The DFO, but some of those updates have been for the worst. This stands as a major threat to anglers, guides, lodging and tourism all over B.C., even as we look to bring the salmon allocation policy up to date.”
Cowichan-Malahat-Langford MP Jeff Kibble said the salmon allocation policy is a key issue and warned changes could devastate the fishing industry if not handled properly.
“The salmon allocation policy, which is the key part of this file, has been under review for five years,” he said. “Department heads have been putting out all kinds of mixed messages, with some proposals that could effectively kill the industry and that way of life.”
The rally was held Saturday. Poilievre was joined by Vancouver Island MPs representing North Island-Powell River, Nanaimo-Ladysmith and Cowichan-Malahat-Langford.
