Tories Promise Help for Fisheries

[southerncomfort]

Do we like this one?

Tories promise help for fisheries on both coasts

Canadian Press

PETTY HARBOUR, N.L.- — Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says he would give provinces more say in managing fisheries and offer a tax break for fishing families.

He says a Tory government would extend Canadian control over outlying areas of the Grand Banks.

A Conservative government would scrap the capital gains tax on fishing assets -- valuable licences for instance -- within families.

He's also promising more money for fisheries science and research and a judicial inquiry into the collapse of sockeye salmon stocks in the Fraser River in British Columbia.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...me=election2006

[shoop]

This one seems good. The Tories won 2/7 of the Rock's seats in 2004. Mebbe 1 or 2 more come their way this time around as a result...

Do we like this one?

A Conservative government would scrap the capital gains tax on fishing assets -- valuable licences for instance -- within families.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...me=election2006

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[Freshinit]

I'd really like to know what kind of social programs he plans on destroying from all these tax cuts. I better start saving up for that knee surgery I'm going to need down the road.

[shoop]

Are you really opposed to helping our fishermen who are in need? What industry do you work in? Perhaps the Liberals could unfairly tax that industry to help pay for your knee surgery.

I'd really like to know what kind of social programs he plans on destroying from all these tax cuts. I better start saving up for that knee surgery I'm going to need down the road.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Vancouver King]

This one seems good. The Tories won 2/7 of the Rock's seats in 2004. Mebbe 1 or 2 more come their way this time around as a result...

Do we like this one?

A Conservative government would scrap the capital gains tax on fishing assets -- valuable licences for instance -- within families.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...me=election2006

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Someone has to shake up the Fisheries bureaucracy. In BC enforcement against over-fishing is non-existent, particularly against first nations on the Fraser.

I am a defender of First Nations rights to feed their people from the resource but anecdotal evidence says that if you sit down in a bar in Chilliwack you will soon be offered sockeye at a ridiculous low price. This is so widespread that only DFO authorities are unaware it's going on.

Meanwhile, salmon are getting so scarce that the commercial fishery is almost history and the recreational catch is just that: history. What a mess.

[Freshinit]

Are you really opposed to helping our fishermen who are in need? What industry do you work in? Perhaps the Liberals could unfairly tax that industry to help pay for your knee surgery. 

I'd really like to know what kind of social programs he plans on destroying from all these tax cuts. I better start saving up for that knee surgery I'm going to need down the road.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am going to school right now. I get the ressources to learn from Government spending.

I also work at a warehouse. In which I am apart of a union. It's quite likely this union has saved me from losing my job.

[shoop]

In your silence are you admitting tht you don't care about fisherman and their families?

How many social programs is Martin going to destroy by just throwing money at the daycare problem that wouldn't provide working Canadian mothers with the options they want?

I am going to school right now. I get the ressources to learn from Government spending.

I also work at a warehouse. In which I am apart of a union. It's quite likely this union has saved me from losing my job.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[normanchateau]

In your silence are you admitting tht you don't care about fisherman and their families?

Maybe he left the board.

[Guest eureka]

Maybe he is not interested in responding to a debating (?) style that implies that if you don't agree with Harper you must not care for fisherman.

[August1991]

Based on the CTV article, the Tory proposal has three elements, all very good:

1) Extend Canadian sovereignty to include the Tail and Nose of the Grand Banks. (These are shallow waters beyond the 200 mile limit. They have caused endless problems in policing foreign vessels. You can see a map here.) This should have been done long ago. Canada will need the naval resources to police these areas as well. (Here is an instance where protecting Canadian sovereignty actually means something as opposed to the anti-American nonsense of the softwood lumber dispute.)

Incidentally, the 200 mile limit for fish was first imposed by Iceland in 1974 and was very controversial at the time. If Canada extended sovereignty further, it would meet with international controversy. I say, "who cares".

The 200 mile limit was first introduced by Chile in 1947 because its continental shelf extends 80 miles offshore. (Legal link.)

2) Transfer fishing policy to the provinces. The East coast fishery has suffered tremendously because it is managed from Ottawa. Iceland's cod fishery is thriving. It's necessary to see what Harper is in fact proposing.

3) Capital gains tax exemption. Equipment and in particular fishing quotas are now very valuable assets. They should not be taxed when passed between family members, just as family farms are exempt. (I would argue that capital gains taxes should be thoroughly reformed but like income tax, that's a battle for another day.)

----

Let me put in a partisan dig. Martin went to St. John's and could only talk about the apparent prosperity due to Hibernia - a project first approved by Mulroney. He answered gibberish when asked why he had closed down the meteoroligical centre in St. John's.

[shoop]

It was more than implied.

His kneejerk anti-Harper response came against a policy that is good for Canadians.

Maybe he is not interested in responding to a debating (?) style that implies that if you don't agree with Harper you must not care for fisherman.

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[Guest eureka]

It is an p[en question whether thosw proposals are good ones.

Extending the 200 mile limit is sure to lead to international disputes - with the Americans as well as others.

Where is the evidence that transferring respnsibility to the Provinces would have led to better management? It is quite likely that there would have been an opposite result as local presusres would have been on local government. And the local pressures to keep overfidhing were intensely strong.

It could be argued that capital gains tax exemption is justified for many other types of family business, too. And, should they all get it, the competititon with publicly owned businesses would be unfair. The only realistic argument is that capital gains rax should be removed altogether. That opens other questions.

It was the Liberal government that gave the keys to the kingdom to Newfoundland over its oil, not Mulroney. Mulroney was in at the beginning and supportive. Why would he not be when it was a federally owned resource.

[hiti]

Another half-baked, vote-buying announcement from Harper.

There is no cod fishery. The seals have depleted the cod leaving none for fisheries. Control the seal population with more seal hunts and the cod may recover.

Provinces do not run their programs any better than the federal government, so abandonment of a federal responsibility is not in the best interest of Canada. Picking fights with the international community is off the wall. Harper musta been smoking some of that weed he is trying to ban and punish people for smoking.

But Harper does like his booze now and again.

[wellandboy]

Provinces do not run their programs any better than the federal government, so abandonment of a federal responsibility is not in the best interest of Canada.

Where is the evidence that transferring respnsibility to the Provinces would have led to better management?

As a serious Angler and conservationist, I can tell you that given the choice between Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) and DFO, I'll take OMNR hands down. DFO started throwing their weight around in the Great Lakes after they screwed up the East Coast fishery. It was a disaster. They eventually passed responsibility down to OMNR and regional Conservation Authorities, with better results all around. In fact communication with the stakeholders, while not perfect is better than it's ever been and conservation is improving.

Empowering the provinces who have more boots on the ground along with the Feds actually treating them as equals just may improve things on the East Coast and elsewhere.

[hiti]

In Alberta the provincial government has devastated the perch fish stock by moving perch from well stocked lakes to try to establish stock in other lakes. There is now a ban on perch fishing in all lakes and yet I have seen six inch perch being caught and kept.

Now all the lakes are struggling to maintain their perch stock with pike taking over. They have also damaged the trout stock with silly decisions.

Would the feds have done any better? Probably not but the feds should be responsible for oceans and international waters while provinces for the waters within their borders.

[Biblio Bibuli]

Do we like this one?

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...me=election2006

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Yes we do!

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sto...7e-50e5d849dc8b

(con't) "Harper said he was prepared to send a strong signal to the 20-or-so foreign fishing nations that he'll take steps to push the existing boundaries of the Flemish Cap and the Grand Banks out to the continental shelf and unilaterally seize control of the waters if there is continued infringement of Canadian territory."

[southerncomfort]

Another half-baked, vote-buying announcement from Harper.

There is no cod fishery. The seals have depleted the cod leaving none for fisheries. Control the seal population with more seal hunts and the cod may recover.

Provinces do not run their programs any better than the federal government, so abandonment of a federal responsibility is not in the best interest of Canada. Picking fights with the international community is off the wall. Harper musta been smoking some of that weed he is trying to ban and punish people for smoking.

But Harper does like his booze now and again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Whats that supposed to mean, oh right just drive by slander and underhanded innuendo.

[GreenWhiteandPink]

If anything the Liberals will gain seats in NL in this election. Very few Newfoundander's and Labdorian's care about the capital gain tax exemption for fisher's equipment/boat as they are not affected by it. I live in a community of 10000 and know no one that works in the fishing industry. Tax cut's for fisher's who cares.