Fisheries Committee on May 18th, 2006

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

You've done work in other regions as well.

[Marc Gagnon]

Yes. We have won--and lost--contracts in all regions, including Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Thank you.

C'est ça.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Thank you, Mr. Cuzner.

Monsieur Blais.

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Good morning, Mr. Gagnon. I'd like to raise two issues with you : the history of the program and the supposed wisdom of the Department.

As far as history is concerned, and considering that the program has been in existence since 1978, I suppose that, at the beginning, the fisher-foxes were probably extremely hungry. With time, I suppose the relationship between observers and fishermen improved. I take it for granted that fishermen have some responsibility for the conservation of the resource and want to operate properly.

[Marc Gagnon]

I agree with you. I would add that, despite what one might conclude from my brief, the fishermen are not the problem here. I am convinced that a good part of the fishing industry is opposed to this reform, mainly because it would compromise the integrity of the program.

Coming back to the history of the program, it was created in 1978 to cover foreign fleets fishing in Canadian waters. Those fleets have progressively left Canadian waters and, from the middle of the 80s, the program started to be applied to Canadian fleets. I can say that, right from the start, we did not have great difficulty working with most of the fishing companies. That has not been a problem.

Does that answer your question?

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Yes.

Now, let's talk about the supposed wisdom of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. When one wants to change a program, one reviews the program and one calls experts to look at the situation. FOC had asked an independent expert to look at the various options. According to that expert, what the Department intends to do is diametrically opposed to what he had recommended.

[Marc Gagnon]

Exactly.

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Who are they?

[Marc Gagnon]

They are Gardner Pinfold Consulting Economists.

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

So, that expert was hired by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to review the program and he mentioned in his report that the solution being proposed by the Department did not make any sense. Despite that, it is going forward.

[Marc Gagnon]

To be more specific, the mandate of Gardner Pinfold was to look at a number of options about which the Department had not expressed any preference. The Department submitted six options and asked Gardner Pinfold to consult all the stakeholders, FOC and the observer companies in order to come up with a recommendation.

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

The consultant did not recommend the one...

[Marc Gagnon]

No, he recommended exactly the opposite.

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

What did he recommend?

[Marc Gagnon]

He recommended that the present system of regional exclusivity be maintained in each region. He based this recommendation on the fact that the main priority of all the stakeholders was to protect the integrity of the program.

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Thank you, Mr. Blais.

Before we go to Mr. Stoffer, Mr. Gagnon, there was a question from Mr. Blais on an independent auditor and we didn't quite catch the name. Gardner Pinfold & Associates, was it?

[Marc Gagnon]

That's right.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gerald Keddy]

Thank you.

Mr. Stoffer.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I have two quick questions. You're representing Biorex and you say there are three or four other companies. Would they be of the same opinion as your company?

[Marc Gagnon]

What I can tell you is that at the April 2005 meeting I talked about it was clear from what was said that the other observer companies had the exact same position about this reform as Biorex.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

And it's your conclusion that if these reforms go ahead--and DFO has said that they're done and they just want you to add input on how to reform it--you're saying, and correct me if I'm wrong, that if these reforms do go ahead and DFO does what it wants to do, it could seriously compromise the resource itself?

[Marc Gagnon]

That's right.

And my comment on this is that, for instance, in our regions one of the main, most important types of work the observer does is to provide daily data to the DFO on open and closed fishing zones based on the amount of soft-shell crab or small fish. So if that type of data is compromised, you have a direct impact on the resource.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

You had indicated, sir, that this was in the federal budget of 2005. In the meantime we've had an election, as you know. Is there a window of opportunity for you to change DFO's mind, or is it already in stone?