"Unfortunately, we have a Minister of Fisheries who has allowed himself to be misled by a company whose only interest is the bottom line. I called on the Minister of Fisheries in the House of Assembly today to stand up for, and with, the people who work in the fish plant in Fortune and stop accepting the excuses being given by FPI for closing its plants in Fortune and Harbour Breton," said Foote.

"The decisions being taken by FPI are callous and shows a company that has lost sight of its very reason for existence. FPI was created with taxpayers money to the tune of $252. million, the very taxpayers who in the case of Harbour Breton, are being told there is no place for them in FPI’s plans and, in the case of the Fortune fish plant, they have been given an option that does not guarantee the workers any kind of security. On the contrary, the option of 223 workers moving to the Marystown fish plant is fraught with problems when you consider the workforce from the Fortune plant cannot carry their seniority with them. When it comes to laying off workers, they will be the first to go. I understand that today there are over 60 people on the casual list in Marystown waiting anxiously to be called for work. As for the proposal to put a new line at the plant in Burin to accommodate the remaining workforce at Fortune, I understand as well that these will be new jobs at FPI and therefore open to anyone who wishes to apply including the plant workers from Harbour Breton.

"What FPI is offering in nothing more than work to a handful of people to maintain the cold storage facility at the plant in Fortune. Today’s announcement means the end of fish production at the fish plant in Fortune and the end of a way of life in that community. Other communities on the Burin Peninsula will be impacted because the workforce at Fortune fish pant comes from several communities. FPI has abandoned its moral responsibility to its workforce and to those communities where its plants have operated.

"While FPI continues to use the dollar and the shortage of raw material to excuse its callous actions, the truth is there is no shortage of H&G Cod, FPI doesn’t want to pay the price because it will mean less profit for their shareholders. They have completely forgotten their largest group of shareholders, their workers. Why is it that of the 25 million pounds of cod caught in 3PS this year, FPI only purchased 3 million? There are many questions and no answers because FPI intentions were to close down several of their plants and the government has nothing to stop them even though they have the authority to do so.

"It is time FPI acknowledged that it has a moral responsibility and reconsider the decisions it has taken concerning Fortune and Harbour Breton."