Part of the problem, in fact a major part is the failure to get Public access to the fishery on any politicians radar. Other better organized groups continually beat their drums until they can no longer be ignored. We meekly assume that if the previous government did nothing positive, a change of government will magically reverse the trend, because they must be the polar opposite right?
This works out good for opposition parties who people just assume will do things differently when forming a government. Of course this isn’t always the case, the new government turns out to be pretty much the same as the previous one for the most part. Ignores back burner issues and addresses those grabbing attention
Why are our concerns ignored? Because they newly elected government and its individual MP’s were never forced to look at the issue we hold so dear, pronounce any kind of policy, support, or make any statements about it! To them it’s just white noise that like previous governments, can easily be ignored. No need for politicians to even get involved in choosing sides because none of them see it as an issue.
On the other hand, better organized groups have gained media support and forced politicians to address their issues. If the Liberals are for, the Conservatives are against, unless it’s an outright motherhood issue. How often have we watched this game play out. If you want to form government you better work with the vocal groups because they influence a lot of potential voters.
Unless we get a Party to truly commit to Public Fishery and see it as a means to garner votes, we will never be part of any political conversation. So I say we keep pressing all candidates and let them know we feel this is important and could sway our vote.