Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Minister, over your time on this committee you've always expressed a commitment to small-boat fishermen and you've taken that position with regard to the commercial groundfish integration program that your department put in place early this year. You've maintained that this program has not hurt the small-boat fleet and that it was broadly supported. The broadly supported aspect of it was more or less refuted by a survey last July. The respondents, the people who were surveyed, were sablefishermen and halibut licence holders in British Columbia, and over 70% of them were not supportive of the program.
With regard to the small-boat fleet, I have a stack of e-mail and letters from fishermen in British Columbia who've indicated that this program was very hurtful to them. I have a letter here from Don Ekroth, whose vessel is the Lionheart 2. He's a small-boat guy and he says there doesn't seem to be any place left for mom-and-pop operations anymore. He says that the costs of cameras or observers are so onerous and the technical requirements so cumbersome that he needs a lawyer for a deckhand, instead of his kids.
He talks about the impact on native communities. He says, “I served on the committee that bought back licenses for Natives for several years. Many of the halibut licenses went onto small boats in native communities. Talking to some of them this summer, none of these people can fish any more under the present regulations. Tremendous hardships have been created in the small boat fleet.”
Minister, most of those letters were sent to you, and I got a carbon copy of them, but furthermore I'm in possession of a series of e-mails that were received under access to information. The original request went from a Scott Tessier, who I understand is in your employ; it went to Kevin Stringer, a bureaucrat here in Ottawa, I believe. They were asking about this program. They were trying to get a response to a letter to Mr. Eric Wickham, who many of us around this table know is involved with the Canadian Sablefish Association.
What they're responding to in the response of the department here is that there's no evidence to support Wickham's claim that, and I quote, “Excessive boat costs are putting the small boat fleet out of business.”
Anyway, Tessier sends this letter to Stringer and wants his response. The letter goes back to the west coast, and by this time copies have been given to Lucie McClung, Paul Sprout, Kevin Stringer, and Diana Trager. The response that comes back from Heather James is that they are 100% sure that this program is not affecting small boats. She says, “I have reconfirmed this with the region. To date we have no evidence. Moreover, I would point out to you that while Mr. Wickham continues to allege large impacts on the small boat fleet, he does not represent these people and we have received letters from small boat operators, including”--it's blanked out--“that are supportive of integrated management.”
Mr. Minister, the fact of the matter is that there is widespread opposition to the program. It has hurt small-boat folks. You have been sent letters to this effect. Whether you've received them or not I don't know, but it seems to me that you should have been given a briefing that summarized the content of those letters, and that doesn't seem to have taken place. Furthermore, it would appear that your department has misinformed you on this issue, as is evidenced by this e-mail.
You just said the buck stops here. I'd like to know why your department has not kept you fully informed on this, because in my view they've exposed you politically to serious implications, serious damage. Why has your department not kept you fully informed of the real impact of this program on the small-boat fleet in British Columbia?