News

OTTAWA – NDP Fisheries and Oceans critic, Fin Donnelly (New Westminster-Coquitlam) and Deputy critic Phil Toone (Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine) are demanding that the government take action after the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel released their report today, “Sustaining Canadian Marine Biodiversity.”

The Record, 25 January 2012
By Theresa McManus

New Westminster's members of Parliament are inviting Prime Minister Stephen Harper to tour Royal Columbian Hospital.

While premiers gathered in Victoria recently to discuss federal transfers for health care, New Westminster-Coquitlam NDP MP Fin Donnelly and Burnaby-New Westminster NDP MP Peter Julian challenged Harper and federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq to tour Royal Columbian Hospital.

NEW WESTMINSTER – Today, while premiers gathered in Victoria to discuss federal cuts to the health transfer, local New Democrat MPs Fin Donnelly (New Westminster – Coquitlam & Port Moody) and Peter Julian (Burnaby – New Westminster) issued a challenge to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq to tour Royal Columbian Hospital.

New Westminster News Leader, 16 January 2012
By Staff Writer

New Westminster MPs Peter Julian and Fin Donnelly have challenged Prime Minister Stephen Harper and federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq to tour Royal Columbian Hospital before making changes to the transfer of health funds to the provinces.

In December, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty proposed tying funding increases to economic growth including inflation starting in 2017. That rate is expected to be about four per cent compared to the current annual rate of six per cent.

OTTAWA – After a week of town hall meetings across New Westminster–Coquitlam & Port Moody, New Democrat MP Fin Donnelly is heading back to Parliament with a mandate to fight the Conservative government’s service cuts and protect pensions.

“Service providers across my riding are just starting to feel the effect of federal cuts to their funding,” said Donnelly. “These cuts run deep – for some organizations, it is the difference between keeping their doors open and closing altogether”.

MPs Fin Donnelly and Phil Toone are especially concerned for rural communities

OTTAWA – New Democrat Fisheries and Oceans critic, Fin Donnelly (New Westminster-Coquitlam), and Fisheries and Oceans deputy critic Phil Toone (Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine), criticized the Conservatives today over radical new cuts to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

M-297 — December 5, 2011 — Mr. Donnelly (New Westminster—Coquitlam)

That, in the opinion of the House, the government should:

(a) launch a campaign that expressly denounces gender violence as unacceptable behavior, and that emphasizes prevention and societal responsibility;
(b) seek to combat the underlying socio-economic causes for gender violence, including the active promotion of gender equity for Canadians;
(c) reinstate the word "equality" in Status of Women Canada's organizational goals;

OTTAWA – Legislation to prohibit the import of shark fins, often illegally caught using inhumane methods, was introduced today by Official Opposition Fisheries and Oceans Critic Fin Donnelly (New Westminster-Coquitlam).

“With millions of sharks being killed each year just for their fins, this international marine conservation crisis requires immediate action,” said Donnelly. “The often illegal targeting of sharks for their fins is causing a rapid decline in shark populations and hurting marine ecosystems around the world.”

OTTAWA – Today, NDP MP Fin Donnelly (New Westminster-Coquitlam & Port Moody) tabled a motion in the House of Commons calling on the government to take action on gender violence.

Donnelly also made a statement in the House of Commons in support of the Tri-City Transitions’ second annual Purple Ribbon Campaign, which is a part of the international campaign “16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.” Donnelly also organized a photo with federal BC NDP Caucus Members of Parliament wearing purple ribbons to demonstrate their support for the campaign.

Rob Williams and his colleagues weren't even looking for sharks

Vancouver Sun, 23 October 2010
By Larry Pynn

The University of B.C. researcher was aboard a 20-metre research sailboat off the B.C. coast for three summers, surveying for marine mammals such as whales, dolphins and porpoises.

But it was the appearance of shark fins -- one, then another, and another -- slicing through the cold blue water that surprised the research team. Most were salmon sharks, but there were also some blue sharks ranging in length to almost four metres.