FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1998 All Rights Reserved.
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| VIEWPOINT As inevitable as family vacations, neighborhood lawn squabbles and malls filled with teens 24 hours a day, the signs of a political summer have arrived. We may not be able to afford salmon steaks or cod, but, in a special addition to the summer menu, Canadians will once again enjoy a blue-plate special of fish politics. If you do not count the Reform Party's unite-the-right angst, no issue has dominated our recent political summers the way fish has. The summer of '98 will be no different. This week, the federal government announced its latest bailout for Canada's fisheries. It is an important part of the Liberals' effort to regain lost ground in Atlantic Canada, and break the Reform Party's stranglehold in the West. If anyone ever thought government might be about policy and finding answers to problems, Ottawa's fish strategy should give them a good dose of reality. The Globe and Mail reported last weekend that the latest federal fisheries assistance program will give $550 million to the East Coast to extend the current TAGS program, and $375 million to the West Coast salmon industry. The dollar figure may change by the time the federal government makes its official announcement. After testing the waters to see how the East and the West react to the decision, Prime Minister Jean Chretien will make the final call on how much everyone gets. What will not change is the superb triumph of politics over policy this decision represents. If you are going to pour millions of dollars into a doomed industry, you want to get as much as you can out of your largesse. Newfoundland Premier Brian Tobin, counting on his Liberal connections, will be visiting Ottawa to plead his case. He may get more money, but it will cost him some future considerations. In the grand tradition of Western premiers, BC's Glen Clark will rail in public about the inequity of the agreement. In private, he will celebrate because the funding is out of proportion with the importance of the salmon industry to his province. BC - its economy and culture - is not as deeply dependent on fishing as the Atlantic provinces. Finally, a Western premier down in the polls could not ask for a better start to the summer than a scrap with the federal government. All the payouts and political maneuvering are a distraction from the real issues afflicting BC and the Atlantic provinces. The Atlantic fishery, as the main economic engine of the region, is dead; the Pacific salmon fishery is not far behind. In the Atlantic provinces, millions of federal dollars allow at least some in the region to ignore the painful reality that mismanagement has destroyed the fishing industry. Canada is not alone. Fisheries around the world are either on the rocks or close to them. In the 21st century, fishing of wild species, as an industry, will barely exist as an economy. That is the issue the federal government should be trying to solve. Unlike other political parties, the Liberals have always been able to keep their priorities clear and not let issues get in the way of politics. Politics are about keeping people happy, not about solving problems. The problems facing the East and West Coast fisheries are difficult and will require a little discomfort to solve. It is so much easier just to worry about getting more seats outside of Central Canada - and, as a political party, that is the Liberals' real priority. |
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