Foreign Policy Report

More news on the progress of the new foreign policy initiative, from yesterday's Hansard:

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, later today we will be debating a motion dealing with the Province’s seal hunt and the proposed EU ban. This ban on imported seal products brings a serious threat to 6,000 sealers and their families who depend on this industry. Last week, the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture travelled to Ottawa to meet with EU officials.
I ask the minister: Did you achieve any results from these meetings and garner any additional support in an attempt to stay the proposed EU ban?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
In response to the question from the member opposite, certainly, any time that you speak with European politicians, in this case, ambassadors, you do garner intelligence.
What I did find out was that ban appears to be going full-fledged ahead in the Parliament. However, in meeting with some of these ambassadors, we do have allies, we do have opportunities, and of course, our Premier certainly put a letter out to all ambassadors clearly stating our position and indicating that we are not satisfied just with the ban or the exemptions. We want to have our seal harvest continue without any restrictions, because it is humane, it is viable, it is sustainable, and we as a jurisdiction are going to pull out all the stops to make sure that they fully understand the consequences of what they do.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, an issue of such importance requires a solid plan to deal with any potential EU decision, and requires cooperation and dialogue between the federal and provincial governments.
I ask the minister: During your visit to Ottawa, did you meet with the Minister of Fisheries to discuss any strategy in dealing with this important issue?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: On the point of meeting with the minister, I certainly made the minister aware that I was in Ottawa. I did make a request, but obviously she did not see fit to meet with me at that particular time.
As the regards to the federal government and cooperation with the federal government, we have been two years, I say, Mr. Speaker, asking this federal government to take trade action so that we have something that we can stand behind.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: I tell you: finally they have listened to us and are moving forward.
We, as a jurisdiction, as I pointed out, will do anything we can to ensure that this hunt is not only continued but continued in a way that can give us the commercial return that we need.
Thank you, very much.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of Port de Grave.

MR. BUTLER: Mr. Speaker, seeing as the Minister of Fisheries would not meet, I am going to ask him another question.
Mr. Speaker, CBC Radio reported on Friday that if a ban on seal products is instituted the Government of Canada will launch a world trade organization action.
I ask the minister: Have you been in contact with the International Trade Minister, Stockwell Day, to lend our support to any international challenges to reverse this potential ban?

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. HEDDERSON: Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out to the hon. member on the other side, we have left no stone unturned in trying to make sure that the federal government and our European politicians understand the position that we hold. My predecessors and ministers have been in contact with not only the DFO minister but also Stockwell Day. We have continually asked him to move forward in the position, to take the, I guess, WTO action. It was only last Friday that they indicated that they will.
We have asked them constantly for their strategy and have not been given the courtesy of them telling us what their direction is. As a result of it, I say, Mr. Speaker, we have to, as a jurisdiction, step up to the plate. We have stepped up to the plate and we will continue to be at the plate until we finally hit that homerun. Mr. Speaker, we will again leave nothing unturned to make sure that we get that result.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please!
The time allotted for Oral Questions has expired.
-------------------------------------------------


So here's the Foreign Policy Progress Report:

1) The Foreign Minister cannot get a meeting with the Federal Minister of Fisheries.

2) The Foreign Minister cannot get the Federal International Trade Minister to reveal his strategy.

3) The Foreign Minister knows what's being reported in the news.

4) The Foreign Minister knows that DW sent a personal letter.

5) Because of numbers 1 & 2, the Foreign Minister is going to play baseball.


Helps to explain why DW didn't make a significant cabinet shuffle:
http://www.assembly.nl.ca/business/hansard/ga46session2/09-04-08.htm