Fishermen were shut out of a rally in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador on Sunday. They wanted to speak to the Prime Minister and fisheries minister, but were denied access. Richard Gillette, the leader of the fish harvesters, joins us to explain what happened.
00:03:25.660Well, you know, you played the footage from Sunday, but this really happened back in Friday before the announcement, before the management plan was put down.
00:03:36.080We wanted to give the minister, because we were getting rumblings that they weren't going to listen to us, as always.
00:03:42.000With this liberal government, with this DFO that we got right now, that seems like that's the recurring theme with these guys.
00:03:52.540So, Friday, we went in to protest that, you know, we wanted to make sure that, you know, we weren't going to have an over-absorbent cut in our stocks, because really, we're not seeing it in our area.
00:04:07.380Now, I'd be the first one to say that, you know, we're conservation-minded.
00:07:14.260But we, we went down to the convention center.
00:07:17.800And what I can't understand is he acknowledged us that we were outside.
00:07:24.460And he also, he also acknowledged in the crowd, in the supporters that he got, that he kicked off on his campaign is that we will restructure DFO, which, by the way, really needed.
00:07:37.400And that we want to get closer to the wharf.
00:07:41.160Okay, well, that means talk to fish harvesters.
00:07:45.060Well, Mr. Carney, I'm still waiting for a conversation with you, either on the phone or in person.
00:07:52.300So, that minute, Prime Minister Carney didn't have to wait until the election, because that's what he said.
00:07:57.840If we're elected, if we're elected on the 28th, okay?
00:08:02.060He didn't only, he didn't only have to wait until the 28th to see if he was elected.
00:08:07.540You know, like a lot of these promises, he could have put it in play the next morning when we had a meeting, a meeting with the minister's office and DFO.
00:08:23.960So, if he was going to restructure, and if he was doing it in good faith, what he was saying, he could have listened to us and made the change.
00:08:34.900We would have been happy to have a 15% reduction.
00:08:38.000Our, half of our fleet wouldn't have been bankrupt.
00:08:40.100And, we would have went on our merry way.
00:08:44.060Now, since that, David, okay, I'll get into a little bit of the science part of this, okay?
00:08:50.740And, I'll try to keep it simple, because it is very complicated.
00:08:54.100I just want to point, I just want to say at this point, Richard, Mark Carney could be doing a lot of things right now, but it has to happen in five weeks after he gets his mandate.
00:09:06.280And, so, what you're saying, I think, is representative of what this man is doing.
00:09:11.980It's always, I can't do anything right now.
00:09:13.860Well, he's prime minister right now, and he refuses to do any of the things he's talking about, I think, because he has no intention of doing them in five weeks either.
00:09:51.720Anything can be done if the will is there to change it.
00:09:56.220And, the thing about it is, you know, that night that he didn't come out, you know, there was only a few arbitersers, what I call a few arbitersers, that he had to confront.
00:11:28.920And, we're still wanting to know the answer.
00:11:31.380Why, can you explain to me why this anomaly is there?
00:11:34.780Now, maybe it's this or that or whatever.
00:11:38.380But, in 2020, 2021, when we had the pandemics, they couldn't do the trawl surveys for physical distancing and all that stuff that was in play that time.
00:11:51.820So, the department said we have the utmost confidence of the pot survey to set the tack, okay?
00:11:59.860What we're asking them right now is not a new thing to do, okay?
00:12:03.720So, we wanted them to take that survey out of it.
00:12:07.540So, if they took the survey out of it and went back just with the pot survey, we would be status quo or a little bit of a decrease.
00:12:15.860Because it's 600 tons in the difference from last year, okay?
00:12:19.440So, we would be down to the level that we would be comfortable at and we could absorb because we've got Fisherman Air now, a multi-million dollar industry or fish adversaries with enterprises that, you know, can't take those absorber, you know, cuts in the crab.
00:12:36.580And, the thing about it is, from one year to the next, you're talking about a 50% reduction.
00:13:23.480So, you take the trial survey, you take the pot survey, you add it together, and then you divide so much that you're going to add and get your index, your biomass index.
00:13:34.220However much the exploitation rate you want to take out of it.
00:13:36.820You know, it could be 44, like us last year, 36, at a 15% reduction, we really, we really would have been down in the exploitation rate of the biomass from 44 to 36.
00:13:56.100But, in 3L, we have asked for the numbers, and we have went over the numbers.
00:14:01.840And, for some reason, that we can't get an answer, and we can't figure it out.
00:14:09.300Because, the same biomass index number for this year is the same number that it was for 2023 and 2024.
00:14:19.340Even though their trial survey and pot survey was down, our trial survey and pot survey was down, but the number of 205, we can't understand where they got it to.
00:14:35.380Now, we were treated to a one-year management plan.
00:14:39.760We usually do a two-year rollover, rolling average.
00:14:43.460So, now, they've done it with one-year, and it seems like in 3L, I got nothing against 3L.
00:14:50.220You know, good on them that you got the crab stocks, the crab biomass, and everything like that.
00:14:55.840But, the problem that we got is the minister is telling us that we have to do it this way, and we'll do it a different way for another group of fishermen.
00:15:22.780Again, we ask the hard questions, and we cannot get the answers.
00:15:27.460So, with a 205, David, it seems like that they threw out the pot survey, which was down, they threw out the trial survey, which was down, and picked that number from a two-year rolling average, which really should be done.
00:15:46.180Yeah, and you've got these, clearly the science on your side, but do you think this is all about politics for this liberal government, looking like it's very, very concerned about the ecology, and it's not going to let these horrible fish harvesters disrupt it for them?
00:16:06.100Well, see, David, you know, science, we've been at, we've, we've, this is not a new thing for us, but with science and the disconnect, okay?
00:16:14.520You know, over the past nine years, this liberal government, listen, we lost the macro fishery, which took 200, took $2.5 million out of my enterprise, okay?
00:16:24.900And other enterprises like that were really, really dependent on this macro fishery.
00:16:29.400And the macro fishery was closed on nothing only the ENGOs and environmentalists and the woke nation that's infiltrated this government.
00:18:21.280There's nobody there to process it because over the years of cuts and cuts and cuts and cuts that everybody is, has really condensed into, you know, like here in, in the province, like we got five or six processing plants for pelagics.
00:18:35.120Where one time we had hundreds, we had hundreds.
00:18:38.660And I don't know how this government can, can really say, okay, let's stamp on them.
00:19:45.680So if you want to represent ordinary Canadians, boy, you come down to our level.
00:19:49.700You should have come out the other night and spoke to us.
00:19:53.020You should have the other night when you made that promise in the campaign hall.
00:19:56.540You should have delivered on it in the next, in the next morning and showed everybody in good faith that you are the man of your word and you would have done it.
00:20:06.200Instead of that, it's hollow promises again.
00:20:11.020Well, Mark Carney had a, had a question yesterday in Halifax at a news conference.
00:20:15.760The last question of the day, mind you, and he was PO'd that somebody wanted to ask him a last question.
00:20:25.180He's looking at this reporter with the evil eye that he reserves for just about everybody he doesn't like or agree with.
00:20:32.980But I want your comment on this, on this exchange here.
00:20:35.600Stations in parts of the province that really, really rely on fisheries and being sandwiched between the tariffs from China and the U.S., what will you tell people who rely on that, who are worried about their jobs disappearing?
00:20:50.900Well, look, first is very focused on, I met with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans two days ago, 36 hours ago, going through a number of issues around that.
00:21:02.880This, we have put in place a series of measures to protect workers, engagement with both the Americans, Chinese on these issues, something we discussed at, at first ministers.
00:21:14.260Look, we're going to fight, we're going to fight for the fishery.
00:21:16.160We're fighting for a sustainable fishery.
00:22:05.360So, the price, the tariffs, you can do all that things.
00:22:09.160But in our case right now is we have nothing to sell.
00:22:13.740They are taking everything that we got to make money and what we got to sell to ensure our enterprises and our families and our communities and everything can survive.
00:23:55.580What do you think I am, running for office or something?
00:23:57.660This guy, I find him completely unappealing.
00:24:01.640But I've got to ask you, you've done a lot of interviews.
00:24:04.800You've done a whack of interviews in the last couple of days.
00:24:07.140A lot of them with the mainstream media.
00:24:10.360Do you think the story would have had any play at all on the mainstream media if it hadn't first appeared on what I like to call the new media, on social media?
00:25:41.000But, again, we had to come to St. John's is the thing.
00:25:45.860And, you know, with Kearney really kicking off his campaign here in St. John's, we just thought that it would be a good chance for this man to show his true colors and talk to the fish officers of Newfoundland and Labrador, which there's a lot of us.
00:26:04.100And he just blew it, to be honest with you.
00:26:10.460Well, my final question, I really want to thank you for being with us today, because I think this story is very important.
00:26:19.060And to me, it symbolizes how detached and unreal our prime minister, and I hate to call him that, but prime minister Mark Carney is.
00:26:27.640But do you think the mainstream media is in his pocket?
00:26:31.760Are they giving him a free ride so far in this campaign?
00:26:34.560And since he announced he was running for the leadership of the Liberal Party, has the mainstream media been giving Mark Carney a free ride?
00:26:44.860Well, you know, in my personal opinion, yes.
00:27:10.040And, you know, there's a lot of people here in Newfoundland and Labrador, I can tell you now, are, you know, are not accepting the fact and forgetting the fact of the last nine years.
00:27:22.080And, you know, me personally, I really do think that if they get in again, we are, and this is not only me, this is a lot of fish arbiters are saying, that we are absolutely done.
00:27:38.420There's a saying, there's a saying here in Newfoundland we got about all this, is that replacing Carney with Trudeau is like shitting in your clothes and just changing your shirt.
00:28:12.060Thank you so much for joining us today.
00:28:13.500And, you know, Godspeed with what you're doing.
00:28:16.360Keep up the fight, as we like to say in this station, resolve to resist.
00:28:20.460That's what I'm trying to do with Mark Carney, because I'm not going to have some globalist installed as the prime minister of this country and just ride roughshod over our freedoms.
00:28:49.860So I'm as upset about this as you are, Richard.
00:28:53.160But thank you for thank you for joining this show today and I want to stay in touch and have you back on and you can tell me about your progress.
00:29:06.420That was Richard Gillette and fascinating conversation.
00:29:09.820And before we go, I've got more and I'm not going to go with too much overtime, but this is the latest outrage about China and Mark Carney.
00:29:34.120Let's quote from that Globe and Mail article in a quote here.
00:29:36.420CSIS also did not have evidence that Mr. Polyev or members of his inner circle were aware of these alleged actions.
00:29:45.280Then I'm going to quote the Hogue Commission.
00:29:47.280And I quote, the commission heard testimony about allegations of the government India interference in the Conservative Party leadership race.
00:29:56.200CSIS witnesses noted that they had no reason to believe the impacted candidates would have been aware of the alleged support.
00:30:04.080Let's be honest, I won the leadership fair and square.
00:30:07.160Even my political competitors, like Mr. Patrick Brown, have publicly testified under oath that that was the case.
00:30:14.120But I'm glad that the Liberals put this attack out today.
00:30:20.940Because there's something that's really been worrying me.
00:30:22.940After Justin Trudeau named Mark Carney, his economic advisor, giving him massive power over public policy in Canada, Mr. Carney went over for meetings in Beijing, where he just had secret talks with the deputy governor of the Chinese Central Bank.
00:30:44.580Two weeks later, Brookfield got a quarter billion dollar loan.
00:30:54.940What did Mr. Carney in his role as Trudeau's economic advisor offer of China?
00:30:59.920Why would he be having secret meetings with top government-controlled bankers about getting a quarter billion dollar loan while he was supposed to be acting in Canada's interest as the Prime Minister's economic advisor?
00:31:15.020Why would he be collaborating with a hostile foreign regime that we have since learned executed for Canadians and took numerous Canadians hostage for a lengthy period of time?
00:31:28.200And given that Mr. Carney knows that he still owns massive financial interests in Brookfield, which owes a quarter billion dollars to a Chinese state-controlled bank, how do we know he's not going to act against our interests in favor of his financial interests?
00:31:50.320Why didn't he stand in front of this microphone and confess to Canadians that he owes the Chinese government that kind of money?
00:31:59.800Is this why he's covering up his financial interests?
00:32:03.340And given that China has murdered our people, taken our people hostage, how is he ever going to stand up to foreign interference when he is so financially compromised?
00:32:15.940We have never in our history had a weak, out-of-touch leader so terribly compromised and conflicted whose interests go against our national interests.
00:32:30.280And I call on Mr. Carney right now to come before a microphone today and explain if this loan is still in place and if he still has those Brookfield assets that he had up until a few weeks ago.
00:32:43.440Because we cannot trust someone, could you imagine, while you're supposed to be advising Canada's Prime Minister on the well-being of our economy, going to a foreign regime that had executed Canadian citizens, taken Canadians hostage,
00:33:00.220that it had already been public, that they had interfered in multiple elections, they've done incursions into our northern waters.
00:33:11.560Mark Carney will never be able to protect our national interests because he has massive financial conflicts of interest overseas.
00:33:20.100What we need now is not to give the Liberals a fourth term with a weak and compromised leader.
00:33:25.740What we need is a Prime Minister who will put Canada first for a change.
00:33:54.240I'm not only the chief economic advisor to Justin Trudeau, I expect to be Prime Minister very soon because I'm going to run for the leadership of the Liberal Party and it's going to be virtually unopposed.
00:35:16.700But this man is just reeks of problems.
00:35:20.500And the question arises, of course, this is the same Mark Carney who told China that the yuan should replace the U.S. dollar as the currency for global use.
00:35:30.060This is the same Mark Carney who wants a digital currency, by the way.
00:35:34.300But he said repeatedly, and we have quoted him, that he wants the Chinese yuan to replace the U.S. dollar.
00:35:42.900Because China has such great environmental policies.
00:35:51.640Now, Beijing, or China, announced retaliatory tariffs on several Canadian farm imports in response to the Canadian duties levied back in the fall against Chinese-made electric vehicles, which, of course, are not selling at all in Canada.
00:36:06.020So why do we have tariffs on Chinese vehicles?
00:36:09.600Well, nobody's buying the Canadian-made electric vehicles.