You have one minute.
Evidence of meeting #61 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was transfer.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #61 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was transfer.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Scott Brison Liberal Kings—Hants, NS
—you rely on would be government-sponsored research versus private sector-sponsored, and how will this change that? I'm just looking for ballpark figures.
Director General, Ecosystems and Oceans Science Sector, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
In ballpark figures, the fisheries science program at the department is in the order of $82 million at the moment. The amount of relief funding that we are putting into this package of projects, which used to be funded with fish but are now covered with relief funding, and which we would now hope to move off relief and onto fish, is in the order of $10 million. So that gives you the relative scale of where we are now.
It's difficult for me to answer the other part of your question, because I don't know what the demand is going to be from the industry and the agreement from the government will be to augment that in the future. We'll have to see.
Liberal
Director General, Ecosystems and Oceans Science Sector, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
No.
Director General, Ecosystems and Oceans Science Sector, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
No. I don't believe so.
Conservative
Director General, Ecosystems and Oceans Science Sector, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes.
The value of the resource that would be used if this tool were available would be fully in addition to what our current investment in science and management is.
Conservative
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
I don't want to hog the time, Mr. Chair. I was just interested in hearing, if we could, about some of those opportunities that you suggested these changes would drive.
Director General, Ecosystems and Oceans Science Sector, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Generally speaking, we feel there is an opportunity to re-engage more fulsomely with the fishing industry in the discussion about collaborative work. The court ruling of 2006 has had the effect of dampening the amount that we have been able to do with the industry, because, quite frankly, it's been more difficult for the industry to fund its side of a collaborative project. Everything else being equal, I think if this tool were available, it would reopen the opportunity to have discussions with the industry, which is interested in doing joint projects with us.
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
Obviously, they're interested in doing that, because we all have the same goal, which is to make sure we have a sustainable fish industry that's going to continue to serve Canadians for generations. Do you think that's fair?
Director General, Ecosystems and Oceans Science Sector, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes.
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
Okay.
Those are my only questions.
Are there any other opportunities, just before I devolve my time?
Director General, Ecosystems and Oceans Science Sector, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
It's difficult to be specific, because—
Conservative
Brian Jean Conservative Fort McMurray—Athabasca, AB
I understand, but you feel the model that this legislation is pursuing is going to open up opportunities for the industry, and also open up opportunities generally, to make sure that we have a sustainable fish population?
Director General, Ecosystems and Oceans Science Sector, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes, and I believe it will—because of the industry engagement, as my colleague explained—provide it the opportunity to bring more detailed information about the resource that it can use in its business-planning and economic-planning cycles, as well as in conservation.
Conservative
NDP
Hoang Mai NDP Brossard—La Prairie, QC
Even though I agree with Ms. Nash that this should go to the other subcommittee, just so we understand, since we're talking about this, there was a Court of Appeal decision, because the money from licences was to be used for financing purposes. Is that correct?
Manager, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes.
In 2006, the Federal Court of Appeal, in the Larocque case, held that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans didn't have the authority to use fish for financing. Among other things, the court held that the minister, by deciding to pay a contracting party the proceeds of the sale of fish was utilizing a resource that didn't belong to him for funding Fisheries and Oceans undertakings. The court found that this was an action that the federal crown couldn't perform unless we made an amendment such as the one that's being proposed here today.
NDP
Hoang Mai NDP Brossard—La Prairie, QC
Who brought that to court? Who was against the minister's use of the licensing?
Director General, Ecosystems and Oceans Science Sector, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
The individual who brought the case was a member of a snow crab fishing fleet in New Brunswick.
NDP