Evidence of meeting #11 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 39th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was community.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS
Well, Isaac, I just want to thank you very much for that.
And would you say hello to Simeonie for me, and to Darlene Willy.
And Tommy, if you can say hello to Levi for me, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Bill Matthews
Thank you very much, Mr. Stoffer. Maybe you should do a householder.
We'll now go to our final questioner.
Mr. Kamp.
Conservative
Randy Kamp Conservative Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, BC
Thank you, Chair.
And thank you, gentlemen, for appearing. And for those who are on the line, I appreciate the perspective you bring to this.
I want to explore briefly the whole issue of harbour ownership.
I know, as Mr. Stoffer has alluded to, the concept at this point is that the government would be interested in developing initially those seven small craft harbour locations, or sees the need there. In the other 20 or so communities in Nunavut, I'm sure there's a need there as well, as those on the line have been sharing with us. So in the future there could be other small craft harbours in addition to these seven. At some point along the way the government will need to decide how those are owned and also managed.
The usual model in the south is that the Government of Canada has acquired the property, both the water lot and the upland as well, and constructed the harbour facilities, and then devolves the day-to-day management of it, usually to a harbour authority that conducts the minor maintenance. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans or the Government of Canada, as the owner of the property, still maintains responsibility for the major maintenance. That's a general model that's currently followed in the small craft harbours program.
I'm just wondering if you think that is still the best model for Nunavut. I think I've heard you say that there is a different set of needs. There is commercial fishing that you would like to develop, and that really is what the small craft harbours program is about. It's about supporting that in the south. In the north you perhaps have other issues--transportation and so on--and perhaps that model would give you less flexibility. I wonder if you've thought of other models.
I suppose the other model that the government would want to investigate is whether the Government of Nunavut should own this property. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans would assist in some way in the development of these small craft harbours, but they would continue to be owned by Nunavut rather than by the Government of Canada.
Mr. Earle and Mr. Toomasie, seeing that your location is one of those seven, I wonder if you've given any thought to this or if you could share with us on this.
Chairman, Nattivak Hunters and Trappers Association
Thank you, Chairman.
Randy, the deepwater port would be of most benefit in my community because the fishing is only about 100 miles away from our community, and our trawlers need to land there. As I mentioned, about 12,000 tonnes end up in Greenland. It should be landed on Canadian soil.
The real benefit to offshore fishing would be having a deepwater port, especially in my community. This should be the key community that would benefit in the whole of Nunavut to facilitate the need for an offshore fishing area to keep the dollars in Canada.
Conservative
Randy Kamp Conservative Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, BC
Who would own that, as you see it, and who would maintain it?
Chairman, Nattivak Hunters and Trappers Association
That has to be in place, and we need to plan for that.
I'll have Earle respond to that part of the question.
Arctic Fisheries Alliance
I think it's certainly beyond the capability of the community to solve the problems with the fishing enterprise. It really would fall within the authority of other governments—Nunavut or the Government of Canada.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Bill Matthews
Gentlemen, that concludes our round of questioning. I think we've gone through it thoroughly.
Before I go any further, for those people on the line here I want to recognize the presence of your member of Parliament, Nancy Karetak-Lindell, who's joined us for the last piece of our meeting. Nancy is a seatmate of mine in the House. I want to recognize her, as well as Senator Adams, for being here. I want to let you know that those two people are here with us this morning.
Thank you very much, by the way, to the witnesses appearing in person and to our witnesses online, for your testimony. I think you've gleaned from the committee's questions that we're very sincere about our efforts in small craft harbours right across this country, but in particular in the north. I want to thank you sincerely for that.
I'm going to adjourn the meeting for a couple of minutes, because the committee has further business to deal with.
So thank you very much.
We'll adjourn for two minutes, and then resume.
[Proceedings continue in camera]