Evidence of meeting #58 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 budget.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:35 p.m.
Regional Director, Small Craft Harbours, Quebec Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
We have the same situation in Quebec.
12:35 p.m.
Acting Regional Director, Small Craft Harbours, Central and Arctic Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
We don't use municipal landfills. Our dredging is a lot smaller than my colleagues', but we have to find other ways of dredging and putting our disposal back a little way. Usually it's off-site, above the high-water line.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
12:35 p.m.
Bloc
Gérard Asselin Bloc Manicouagan, QC
In this committee, Mr. Chairman, we are used to requesting certain documents, but often our request falls on deaf ears. In other words, it takes too long to get what we asked for.
Mr. Bouchard, I'm sure you made careful note of my three questions about the wharfs that will be repaired, those that will be demolished and those that will be divested. Could we possibly get an accurate picture of the situation facing harbours in Quebec by September 15, when Parliament resumes?
12:35 p.m.
Regional Director, Small Craft Harbours, Quebec Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
There's no problem getting the specific information you requested. If, later on, you want more details, information and explanations, we would have to look at the situation with you and with the departmental authorities to determine how we can respond to your request.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to go back to a few more items in regard to the central region.
I got a deck on Tuesday that basically outlined.... In your presentation, sir, you mentioned how many core fishing and non-core harbours or recreational harbours have been identified. Could you just go over those numbers again for me, please?
12:35 p.m.
Acting Regional Director, Small Craft Harbours, Central and Arctic Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Do you mean regionally?
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
12:35 p.m.
Acting Regional Director, Small Craft Harbours, Central and Arctic Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
At this time, there are 57 fishing harbours and 165 recreational or non-core harbours.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Of those--of both the 57 and the 165--how many are slated for divestiture?
12:35 p.m.
Acting Regional Director, Small Craft Harbours, Central and Arctic Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
It is all of the 165. Of the 57, there may be a few undecided. Those would be fishing harbours, so we may have to do some consultation with the fishermen to decide if we're going to keep them or not.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
In the last little while--the last five or six or ten years, whatever it may be--how many divestitures have there been from central?
12:35 p.m.
Acting Regional Director, Small Craft Harbours, Central and Arctic Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Initially there were 516 harbours, so if we were to subtract 218, it would be almost 300.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
I would imagine there's been a divestiture agreement for each of those 300. Is that correct? It would be on a one-off basis, one by one. Is that correct?
12:35 p.m.
Acting Regional Director, Small Craft Harbours, Central and Arctic Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Sometimes we remove the infrastructure and revert the land back to the province.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Okay. In other cases, if it's in a municipality or something like that, it might have gone to the municipality or to a special interest group that wanted to maintain it. Is that the case?
12:35 p.m.
Acting Regional Director, Small Craft Harbours, Central and Arctic Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I'm not precisely sure of all the Ontario harbours, but in the prairies all of them have gone back to the province or the municipality. In Ontario I think most of them have gone to the municipality.
12:35 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Of the $6.3 million that's in the operational or maintenance or the ongoing small craft harbours budget for central region, I would imagine a subset of it is obviously going to the prairie provinces. Is any of that going to any of the small craft harbours that have been divested, or once a harbour has been divested, does all funding from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans stop?
12:40 p.m.
Acting Regional Director, Small Craft Harbours, Central and Arctic Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Once the harbour is divested, we don't spend any more at that site.
12:40 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
Of the 57 fishing harbours that are still operational, how many have a harbour authority? Do you know? How many of them are represented by a harbour authority?
12:40 p.m.
Acting Regional Director, Small Craft Harbours, Central and Arctic Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
There are 30 harbour authorities managing, I believe, 34 harbours; there might be one or two almost ready to sign up.
12:40 p.m.
Conservative
Blaine Calkins Conservative Wetaskiwin, AB
I believe you said as well in your presentation that in the central region--not the prairies, but the central region--there are plans to build more, and that there's a demand for up to seven in the Arctic region. Is that right?
