WHEREAS John Cummins, M.P. has been elected to the position of Vice-Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans; and

WHEREAS Mr. Cummins has led organized illegal demonstrations against Aboriginal fisheries in British Columbia, and has been convicted under the Canadian Fisheries Act for fishing illegally during these demonstrations, in disrespect for the rule of law and the paramount force of Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution; and

WHEREAS Mr. Cummins has made racist remarks on Aboriginal fisheries and has waged a propaganda campaign designed to misrepresent aboriginal fisheries as race-based fisheries, when the truth is that they are based on respect for the basic human right of Aboriginal people to carry on their pre-existing traditions and practices and to sustain their distinctive cultures and economies; and

WHEREAS the foregoing conduct makes Mr. Cummins unfit to act as a Vice-Chair of a parliamentary committee responsible for developing and overseeing federal government fisheries law and policy, and responsible for ensuring that the government recognizes and affirms Aboriginal fishing rights and observes the Federal Crown's fiduciary duty to Aboriginal people;