Kenora MP Melillo is calling the Liberal government response slow, on the Nova Scotia lobster fisheries crisis.
In an emergency debate in the House of Commons Monday night, Melillo condemned the “terrible acts of violence” in the eastern province and called for the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to mediate the dispute.
He stated that a lack of action has allowed tensions to rise to dangerous levels.
“The RCMP have been involved – there are now people who are asking the military to get involved. I think that there are many members on this side of the House that now want to know, what is it going to take for this government to get involved to ensure that there’s a peaceful solution right now, and in the longer term?”
Sydney-Victoria Liberal MP Jaime Battiste responded by saying that Mi’kmaq leadership are “quite afraid of increased presence of military in that area.”
Meanwhile Sipekne’katik First Nation Chief Mike Sack has been calling for military intervention.
MP Battiste did not say whether Minister Bernadette Jordan would be sent in to negotiate.
Disputes between Mi’kmaq lobster fishers asserting their treaty right to earn a moderate livelihood and commercial fishers have erupted in violence in Nova Scotia, requiring heavy RCMP presence.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole has stated that the escalation could have been averted had the government acted to facilitate negotiations last month.
The Conservatives were critical of the Liberal government’s decision to call an unnecessary emergency debate.
Melillo called the debate “pure political theatre” and accused the Liberals of using it as a stalling tactic.
“The Liberals have the power to resolve this dispute right now. There’s nothing to debate – Minister Jordan needs to go to Nova Scotia to sit down with all parties and a peaceful resolution.”
The crisis is getting plenty of attention here at home.
Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh and Grand Council Treaty #3 are standing in resolute solidarity with the Mi’kmaw Nation.
“It is extremely concerning to me to see this sort of violence occur against our relations in the Mi’kmaw territory,” said Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh. “We have long known the Mi’kmaw for defending our inherent and Treaty rights from encroachment by those that would like to see an end to our hunting and fishing rights. I would like to state outright that we support them in this struggle just as they have stood by us in the past. I urge all levels of government to step up and defend the rights and physical safety of our Mi’kmaw relatives from these violent mobs before an incident occurs that sparks unrest across this country.”
“We will never forget our sacred responsibilities to the lands and water that were recognized and affirmed by our Treaty and therefore entrenched in the Constitution of Canada,” said Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh, “We, like the Mi’kmaw, take this sacred responsibility very seriously, so it is difficult to see how we as indigenous peoples could ever deliberately choose to act in a way that would jeopardize the sustainability of our waters. With this in mind it becomes clear that these types of confrontations are not about sustainability and are in fact driven by deeply-rooted systemic racism. This is why I know our Nation will stand in solidarity with the Mi’kmaw whatever should happen going forward.”
