On Friday the House of Commons in Ottawa debated a bill put forward by Newfoundland and Labrador NDP MP Ryan Cleary – a bill that would launch an inquiry into why cod stocks collapsed off Newfoundland and Labrador two decades ago, and how to go about rebuilding the industry. The idea of a fisheries inquiry is an idea that Cleary campaigned on during the 2011 federal election. Unfortunately, the Conservative government had already categorically dismissed the idea of an inquiry, and a debate in the Conservative-powered House of Commons didn’t change things. “While some may prefer to live in the past, our government has no intention of conducting a formal review into the collapse of the cod fishery,” said Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield.
