Fish processing dead in five years: Danny Williams

Right at the start of a story on Danny Williams trek to Alberta to hug something, came this curious comment:

The East Coast fish processing industry will collapse in five years if they can't attract overseas workers, Premier Williams said.

"We have to open up our borders as soon as possible."

Just open the borders, Danny? Surely you can't be serious.

The fish processing sector in this province needs to shrink in size and find new ways of lowering costs. Importing migrant labour to split fish while government policy creates migrant labourers of our own people isn't the solution.

In fact, that just makes the overcapacity in the processing sector - a chronic problem since the 1950s and 1960s - a continuing problem rather than one we solve for once and for all. We need to start treating the fishery like a business, not a social welfare program.

Danny Williams has some explaining to do when he gets back from hugging Alberta.

Williams certainly needs to explain his government's fish processing policy.

And while he's at it, maybe the suddenly touchy-feely Premier can hug up to a microphone and explain why he never mentioned this imminent collapse thing before now.

Not like he hasn't had say three years and a fisheries bullshit waste-of-time session summit to do it.

-srbp-