Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs speaks Fish to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters during the 150th Anniversary Symposium “Politics and Law – Energy and Environment in the Far North” held two days ago.
First let's look at how Academics play a role in Norwegian Success. Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had this to say:
In my view, knowledge drives development. Knowledge made available to all drives societies and individuals towards freedom and more responsibility. Therefore, the creation of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters – Det norske Videnskaps-akademi – 150 years ago stands out as a major sign of progress – an important step towards Norway’s independence, towards the establishment of the rule of law in a democratic sovereign state, and even towards an awareness of the need to manage natural resources in a sustainable manner.
When it came to discussing fish - the Norwegian Minister demonstrates how that country has learned from Newfoundland and Labrador - are we really ready to learn from them? Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said this:
The depletion of important fish stocks is easily achieved, as we have repeatedly seen. In fact this phenomenon ranks among the leading threats not only to global ecosystems but also to our ability to feed a growing world population. Faced with the challenge of illegal fishing in the Barents Sea, it is as tempting as it is frightening to remind our audiences of the fate of the cod stocks in the waters off Newfoundland. We know this all too well: The restoration of fish stocks is not easily achieved.
To read the Complete Speech Press HERE
5 comments:
Hypocrite!!! Who's still out there on the Newfoundland fishing grounds participating in the final annihilation of what remains of the once humongous cod stocks.
Right on - We have not learned much - but they sure have...
Ottawa on behalf of Canada has so much Foreign Affairs and International Trade clout tied up in the off shore waters on Newfoundland and Labradors Continental Shelf, namely the fish nursery known as the Grand Banks of Newfoundland; that Ottawa does not know now how to put a stop to the atrocities that are carried on out there. To curtail or put a halt to the over fishing would mean that thousands of Canadians would lose their jobs, since there are, no doubt, many contracts tied up as a result of the fishing that has been allowed to take place there by many countries which have been sanctioned by Ottawa.
My question is how does Ottawa tell countries once it has sanctioned them and allowed trade and foreign affairs matters to be intertwined in those waters in an intricate way, that those countries have to high tail it out of there? Can you imagine the contracts that would fall out of orbit and can you imagine the mess it would cause for Ottawa and Canada? But if Ottawa doesn't do something soon, it will have to deal with the complete death of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland ecosystems and all the fish and organisms that abide there. That will be a bigger mess and it will be a very costly fiasco.
I want to define astuteness: Astuteness means a person marked by practical hardheaded intelligence; "a smart businessman"; "an astute tenant always reads the small print in a lease".
While I am sure Premier Williams is very astute, I will let history define our Premier Williams as being astute for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and its inhabitants. When the records show that Premier Williams draws up a contract on the Lower Churchill Energy that shows he did what was right for the adjacent territory Labrador, that sees that part of the province being the primary beneficiary that attracts industry and people, instead of the resource being piped through Quebec for the consumption in Ontario or anywhere else, other than Labrador and Newfoundland. Of course Labrador's need must be met firstly, then the other portion of the province's needs should be met for industry, if there is surplus energy.
That same astuteness must apply in dealings with the Oil Industry in its development, also in the development of the Minining Industry, Fishing Industry, and any other industries that are presently up for development in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Since we are a resource rich province, we will judge the Premier's astuteness on how he handles the business of Newfoundland and Labrador to bring economies here to give our people employment so that they can live where they desire to live, while making a decent living at the same time.
That is how any Premier will be judged from this day forward, how well he/she handles the affairs of our province for our people. The days of politicians doing what was right for themselves are over and our Premier should get that notion into his head right now.
Ottawa on behalf of Canada has so much Foreign Affairs and International Trade clout tied up in the off shore waters on Newfoundland and Labradors Continental Shelf, namely the fish nursery known as the Grand Banks of Newfoundland; that Ottawa does not know now how to put a stop to the atrocities that are carried on out there. To curtail or put a halt to the over fishing would mean that thousands of Canadians would lose their jobs, since there are, no doubt, many contracts tied up as a result of the fishing that has been allowed to take place there by many countries which have been sanctioned by Ottawa.
My question is how does Ottawa tell countries once it has sanctioned them and allowed trade and foreign affairs matters to be intertwined in those waters in an intricate way
What "trade" is so tied up? What "contracts"? What's "intertwined"?
What has been traded for fish off NL? When? With which countries?
BE SPECIFIC.
Thank you.
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