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November 18, 1997
(Development and Rural Renewal)

The following statement was issued today by Beaton Tulk, Minister of Development and Rural Renewal. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

Members of the House are aware that the TAGS program is scheduled to terminate in May 1998. This is a matter of great concern to over 20,000 individuals - and their families - who through no fault of their own, have been displaced from their traditional livelihood, as a result of the federal government's decision to close the ground fishery. It is also a matter of great concern to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Members of the House will also know that TAGS was implemented, with the expectation that the ground fishery would recover in the near future. TAGS was meant to provide support and assistance during the transition period in which the ground fishery was expected to recover.

Recent scientific evidence by Department of Fisheries and Oceans now indicates that it is unlikely the ground fishery will recover to significant levels in the foreseeable future.

In light of this reality, there is a clear need for a successor program to the TAGS program. This has been acknowledged by Prime Minister Chretien and Federal Fisheries Minister David Anderson. In our view, this is one of the most significant public policy issues facing our province today, but it is also a national crisis that the federal government can not ignore.

We were very encouraged when the House of Commons Fisheries Committee recognized the urgency of the issue. They agreed to come to our province, to see, first hand, the devastating impact of the groundfish moratorium on individuals, on communities and on the social and economic fabric of rural Newfoundland and Labrador.

In doing so, the committee will hear the views of those most affected by the failure of the fishery. It is their views which should guide the federal government in addressing the challenge which arises when more than 20,000 people find themselves without their traditional livelihood, and without the kind of support that has been afforded by TAGS.

While we are encouraged by the decision of the Commons Fisheries Committee to come to Atlantic Canada - and indeed visit communities such as Tors Cove, Marystown, La Scie and others - we are very disappointed that their proposed schedule - as communicated to me by Committee Chairman George Baker - does not include many of the other communities in our province which were hardest hit by the moratorium. I refer specifically to the northeast coast of Newfoundland, the Great Northern Peninsula and coastal Labrador. The committee has not scheduled time to hear from those individuals and groups that have been most affected.

As the Chairman of the Fisheries Committee indicated this morning on VOCM, the TAGS decision is likely to be made in early January. It is therefore imperative that the Fisheries Committee change its schedule to hold meetings in the hardest hit communities in our province during their current visit.

Unless MPs hear from displaced fisheries workers, those workers will not have a voice in how this continuing crisis should be addressed. It is the fisherpeople of Newfoundland and Labrador who stand to lose, and we cannot allow the federal government to dictate a solution in a vacuum, without consulting those affected.

On that note, it is with this in mind that I have provided this information to members of the House so they can contact the members of the Fisheries Committee.