Statement made on 07 May 2009 by Senator William Rompkey (retired)
Hon. Bill Rompkey:
Honourable senators, some of those comments cannot go unchallenged.
First, Senator Harb says it has been a poor hunt this year. There is trouble in the auto industry; there is trouble in the forestry industry. I do not know if Senator Harb realizes it, but we are in the middle of a recession.
Approximately 10 or 12 years ago, gasoline was a dollar a litre in Labrador. I do not know how much it is now. I know it is 83 cents here, but do not be fooled: People are not going out because of the cost. They are not investing because there is no return on their investment. That is the same for the auto industry, the forest industry and any industry in this country. That is the reason people are not going to hunt seals this year. That is the reason they are not fishing this year. We are in the middle of a recession. I thought everyone understood that.
The honourable senator says the seal hunt is a dying industry. I have been here for almost 37 years and people have been saying that for 37 years. It is not dead yet, and if I have anything to do with it the industry will not die. We are doing what we have been doing for centuries. We are living off the sea. This is one of our largest coastlines in our country, and people live off the sea. That is what we are doing and that is all we want to do.
Honourable senators, we do not want handouts; we do not want to have government programs, and we do not want subsidies. Keep your subsidies. Do not ask the government to give us subsidies; we do not want them. All we want to be able to do is live and make a living for ourselves. We have been doing that both in the North and in the South.
Senator Harb says there is a meagre return of only $1,100 per person. If he took the time to go down to the East Coast and find out how people fish, he would know that sealing income is an investment in the next fishery. There is a stage of fisheries. You start with seals because that is the earlier one. Then you take the money from that and invest it in capelin or herring, and then you get into cod, lobster or halibut, but you take that money and reinvest it in the next fishery. That is how it works. You do not live on $1,100 a year. You do not need much. You build your own house and you have your own garden. You do not need a lot of cash. All you need is cash to invest in the next fishery.
Honourable senators, it has been proven that this is the most humane hunt in the world. We do it openly. It is an open abattoir. You hide the pigs you kill; you hide the chickens you kill; you hide the goose that you strangle for the foie gras. We do it openly. Anybody can come and watch.
I remember people who came to watch. Senator Ryan from the States came to watch and brought with him the star from a program, the name of which I cannot recall at this time. He brought her up and he flew in his jet to St. Anthony, and he brought his lawyer and his public relations person. Then he went to Jonestown and he got killed after that. People have open access to the fishery. We do not impede them. We do not stop them from coming. We welcome them to come and watch how we do it.
Senator Harb says that we must be kind to the EU and we must trade with them and they are a wonderful trading partner. That is not our experience. Do you know who killed the cod? It was the EU.
We are culpable. We take our responsibility for our share of the demise of the cod, but make no mistake: Outside the 200-mile limit — and, we talked about that issue today — people fish. Who are they? They are the EU; they are the Spanish; and they are the Portuguese. They have raped that resource. They are culpable.
The EU is culpable in the demise of the cod. If the cod were here, we would be making a living and we would not be sending people to Fort McMurray. They would not be going to Fort McMurray, or to Toronto, or to Hamilton. They would stay home and make a living from the sea. However, they had to leave. Why; it is because of the demise of the cod. Who killed the cod? The EU must take its responsibility for that.
Honourable senators, this is the reality. Do not stop the hunt. I may be wrong, but I think the European Parliament recommended that the EU take these measures. I thought I heard Senator Harb say that the EU had taken a measure. I do not believe they had; I think it is the European Parliament. Those of us who have been overseas know that the European Parliament is an institution where people go if they cannot be elected in their own country. Besides that, the parties have their lists and they say: You can run in this country but you have to go to the EU. This is a Mickey Mouse organization. Those people do their damnedest to be re-elected. They will seize any opportunity at all to be re-elected, and this is one of them. So Gail Shea, you go girl; we are behind you.
Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!
An Hon. Senator: Bravo!