Evidence of meeting #49 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was vessels.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Liberal
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gerald Keddy
No, you actually can't, because you're out of time, and we are keeping our time very tight.
Liberal
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
A point of order, Mr. Chair. I think they went on pretty long. They went about 15 minutes or so.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Gerald Keddy
Actually, no. They were down for 10 minutes.
We can discuss this at another time, if you wish. I know it's difficult for members to stay on time. I've been very vigilant in trying to keep members on time and I'm going to continue to do that.
Mr. Asselin.
Bloc
Gérard Asselin Bloc Manicouagan, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Minister, if we were at the cinema, we could say that my comments are take three. In fact, this is the third time that I am raising this issue with you. I am referring to the coast guard station at Havre-Saint-Pierre on the North Shore. I would not want DFO to save money to the detriment of the safety of fishermen. Safety at sea should be a priority for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
I will give you an idea of what is happening on the North Shore. There is a coast guard station at Havre-Saint-Pierre. During the winter time, the fishermen and crabbers store their boats in dry dock at Sept-Îles. They launch their boats on the 1st of April in Sept-Îles and sail to their marina or to their wharf at Havre-Saint-Pierre. Given that the crab fishery starts on the 5th of April, choosing the 1st of April is appropriate. It is perfectly logical that the boats would be prepared four days before. The distance between Sept-Îles and Havre-Saint-Pierre is 250 km. In the beginning, the fishing permits and allocations were issued for the 5th of April. But once again, this year, the coast guard did not begin operations until April 19th.
During your last appearance before the committee, I provided you with the example of a municipality that opened its public swimming pool to children for the summer season on June 24th but did not hire any lifeguards until the 15th of July. You will agree with me that that makes no sense. And yet, that is what is happening to the fishermen on the North Shore. The problem should be settled, and we were very hopeful that in fact that would happen. We exchanged a great deal of correspondence with your department and your office. And yet the municipalities, the fishermen, the associations, the area stakeholders, some 20 of whom support me on this issue, are constantly asking you why this year, yet again, the coast guard started up their operations almost three weeks after the beginning of the fishery.
Mr. Minister, can we hope that in 2008, the Havre-Saint-Pierre coast guard station, whose role is to watch over the maritime safety of navigators and boaters, will have sufficient funding in order to be effective and ready to function from April 1st to December 1st, that is to say for the peak period? I would like you to reassure me by guaranteeing me that that will be the case.
Conservative
Loyola Hearn Conservative St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
If I remember correctly, Mr. Chair, Mr. Asselin raised this problem last spring. I think at the time we arranged to accommodate them. We did set up a study, which I'll have Mr. Da Pont talk about now, looking at search and rescue and openings, etc., in the area.
I understand his frustration. It doesn't make much sense if a coast guard is needed in the area if the fishery is starting, but that's something, certainly, he has made us aware of. I know we're working on it.
Mr. Da Pont might be able to zero in on your question.
Commr George Da Pont
Thank you, Mr. Minister.
I am well aware of the problem. As the minister was saying, we took temporary measures last year in order to partly resolve the problem. I'm trying, with the search and rescue study, to find a long-term solution. This study is almost complete. We have made the gulf region a priority. I believe I will have the results of the study in hand in three or four weeks' time. The full study will be completed towards the end of June.
We attempted to implement temporary measures this year, but it was rather difficult because we had to put the emphasis on resources, that is to say the seal hunt. As a result, there were fewer resources available. We also mobilized boats from Quebec on this occasion.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Minister, you had said that you didn't make the decision to move the coast guard vessels to the Labrador region. Would you be able to tell us who did make the decision?
Conservative
Loyola Hearn Conservative St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
Actually, the whole coast guard scenario has been revamped in light of the new investment and the investment that hadn't occurred for years. As you know, we're putting three-quarters of a billion dollars into infrastructure, and because of that, plans were made going back to 1997. I think the commissioner will answer your question.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
But, Mr. Minister, I only have five minutes, and I thought it was a simple question.
Conservative
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
You had indicated—no, you had said yourself, sir, that you didn't make the decision—
Conservative
Loyola Hearn Conservative St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
No, no, no, correct it. I made the decision. I said I didn't initiate the action. Okay?
NDP
Conservative
Conservative
Loyola Hearn Conservative St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL
Even the ones I don't make I get blamed for them, so....
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
Sure. Now you also indicated that it was $10 million to redo the BIO wharf, but you neglected to tell us what the cost would be, not only to ship the men and women back and forth to Newfoundland from the maritime region and elsewhere, but you also neglected to say what additional things need to be done to St. John's and Argentia. Is there a dredging cost that has to be done? Is there any work that needs to be done on the wharves in Argentia and in Newfoundland?
And having said that, is there a business case plan for the decision, and if there is, would it be possible for the committee to have that?
Commr George Da Pont
Thank you. On that, we made the recommendation, and it was based on the cost avoidance. We still have to make a significant investment at the BIO campus and in wharf space.
With this decision, we make less of an investment than we otherwise would have and we avoid the ongoing maintenance costs that come with any investment. We took a careful look at the locations in St. John's and Argentia, and it's not our expectation to have to make any significant investments in those locations at all, which was one of the considerations. I know one of the issues people have raised, for example, is whether you can actually tie up the vessel. We had soundings done by CHS to confirm that that was the case and that there would be no issues. We had one of our most respected captains go into Argentia and give us a report on the feasibility of that location.
So we did a lot of work. There will be some extra costs coming from the commitment to have a five-year transition period, absolutely. We thought that was important to deal with these individual situations of the crew and to meet our commitment that there would be no job loss; no individual would lose his or her job, and no individual would be forced to move. We have estimated that cost. Between the two vessels, over the period of time, we expect the additional incremental cost would be a maximum of about $500,000 or $600,000 over that period, and we would obviously look to mitigate it through a variety of measures. But that's our estimate of the maximum cost for additional cost to transport crew.