Fisheries Committee on Feb. 14th, 2008

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

But does that not upset the community, and would it not make the community want to see more changes in the situation? What I'm trying to get at is, wouldn't that give you more allies to deal with the problem you're talking about?

[Allan Gaudry]

To deal with the problem, yes, it would. And it seems as though the message is starting to get to the province, because the province is already involved. Federally, DFO in our region is more about habitat, according to their management there. It has nothing to do with the management of the fishery; it's habitat. So those are challenges.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Is there anything else you'd want to elaborate on? On the overall problem, do you feel you're gaining ground, or do you feel that with the committee you've formed...? What I'm trying to get at is whether you are getting more allies to deal with your problem of this water flow. I just wonder, because when you have this problem, I can't see the communities not being desperately concerned about what takes place too, because it's causing trouble for them, is it not?

[Allan Gaudry]

It's causing problems for them, yes.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Would they not support you? In order to help them, they also have to help you. That's what I'm getting at.

[Allan Gaudry]

Yes.

Where the problem starts is within the agriculture industry. There's a lot more--

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

They don't want to take on agriculture, is that it?

[Allan Gaudry]

No. That's such a huge industry. They're getting political points scored there. How do you get your message across to them? They're a way bigger industry than we are. In the rural municipalities the farmers rule.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Being a farmer, I can't really recommend that you should take them on either.

[Allan Gaudry]

No. It's a huge industry, and we're just the small guys on the outside here. We're trying to see how we can work something out in getting some support to maintain our harbours, maintain our industry, and support it, but it's very difficult. It is difficult because, politically, the farmers rule.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you very much, and good luck.

[The Chair, Conservative, Fabian Manning]

Thank you, Mr. MacAulay and Mr. Gaudry.

Mr. Lévesque, please, for seven minutes.

[Yvon Lévesque, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I'm feeling a bit aggressive this morning. This is my second partner in about half an hour. I'm afraid I might seem like an unbearable person.

Can you hear the interpretation, Mr. Gaudry?

[Allan Gaudry]

Yes, I can.

[Yvon Lévesque, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

I know very little about that region. Please pardon me for that. The place closest to Winnipeg that I've visited is Kenora. I've done a cruise on the Red River, but I don't know Lake Winnipeg very well.

I'd like to know whether the Manitoba Commercial Inland Fisheries Federation only represents members of the First Nations or whether it's a mixed federation. Does it consist of white and Aboriginal people? I hate using the words “white” and “Aboriginal”, because you're as white as I am. If the federation is Aboriginal only, how many Aboriginal villages do you represent around Lake Winnipeg, in Manitoba?

[Allan Gaudry]

Our organization represents all fishermen in the province, so it's first nations, Métis, and non-aboriginal communities. We have representation on our board of directors who are first nation, Métis, and non-aboriginal, and we deal with all issues concerning the fishery.

As far as how many Métis or first nations communities there are, we are the majority. To give you a number of how many communities, it's huge. The only economy we have is the fishery in our communities. We don't have any other economy. There are no other jobs that we can turn to. That's the only economy we have, and it's very frustrating to see some of the challenges and the effects they're having on our fishery, and we are concerned.

How do we deal with these issues? We're hoping we'll get some support, whether or not it's through program funding. We could administer the programs. And if the FFMC, the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation, had a check-off and there was one cent a pound of production that would count towards the federation to deal with these issues, then we'd have the capacity to meet one on one and deal with the concerns. But funding the federation, funding the fishers' organization here to represent them, is a challenge also. FFMC said it could be legally challenging because some fishermen might not say they want a check-off of a cent a pound for production for support. Is it voluntary? Is it mandatory? Those are the issues we have to look at.

I believe there is a need for this organization and there's need for support for it. But how do we get continued funding to manage the fishery, to be involved in the management? We want to be involved in the management, not just to say, here are the regulations and this is what you have to live with. We should be able to come up with a compromise and say, we'll live together in harmony, but we'll also be a part of the decision-making.

That's why this federation was formed. Hopefully we'll get to that point in the future and hopefully we will see some results. That's our goal.

[Yvon Lévesque, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

What percentage of Manitoba fishermen does your federation represent?

[Allan Gaudry]

What percentage? We are the organization that represents all the fishers in the province.

We also have associations that deal with the lakes. There is a role for the small associations to play. Their role is to deal with their quota and the season dates on their fishing. There are so many different associations: the Lake Winnipeg advisory board, the Lake Manitoba Commercial Fishermen's Association, Lake Winnipegosis, the three major lakes, plus the northern fishery. All of them have a role to play, but none of them were at one table at one time, dealing with the whole big picture of the fishery, until this federation was formed.

Now, at least, when we meet, we discuss the issues that concern the fisheries across the province, and we're representing all fishers. If there are the odd ones who aren't very supportive....

I'm sure, as they say, there are going to be some who are not supportive of the fishers federation. But I believe we're the majority, and like any organization, probably 80% to 90% of fishers support our federation.

[Yvon Lévesque, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

You said you represent most fishermen. Are you therefore the only recognized stakeholder when it comes to discussing fisheries problems with the Government of Manitoba? As a federation, you no doubt have a charter. Does the fact that you represent other associations in talks with the government give you the right to charge those associations membership dues?

[Allan Gaudry]

Yes, there is a charter, and there is also a membership fee to join the organization. The membership fee was set at $25. That was initially to get it started.

The challenge is to get all the stakeholders to contribute. They're in remote areas, remote communities in the north. They're also in the other lakes. They're not in the loop to be able to contribute. The mechanism to contribute is not there where the fishers can say, “Well, here's my annual $25.”

The only way we could see this happening is if there was a check-off by production, and then everybody would be in. We brought this issue to FFMC to ask if they would administer it, collect it, and forward the funding to us after the collection had been done. That way, it would represent all the stakeholders.

But it has been a challenge as to how to get all members to contribute their $25, because there is such a large area and there are remote communities involved. For us, it has been a challenge.

When we go to the meetings, we have a good representation of members, but there is the challenge of trying to get everybody to contribute some kind of fee so that we can say legitimately that we are an organization supported by our members. That's the challenge we're still facing. We're only three years old, so it's in the works.

[The Chair, Conservative, Fabian Manning]

Thank you, Mr. Lévesque.

Ms. Bell, you have five minutes.

[Catherine Bell, NDP, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Mr. Gaudry, for your opening comments.

I don't know a lot about the Manitoba fishery. I'm from the west coast, so it was an interesting opening comment to hear about the problems.

I want to congratulate the Manitoba fishermen for coming together to build a stronger voice to have your concerns heard. I think that's really important and something that I hope the government pays attention to. I understand it's not without its challenges within the organization, and I know you're going to work those out, and it does take time.

Have you had any intervention with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, or with DFO or the Department of Agriculture, to work together to solve some of these problems you're facing? With the understanding that there is a large component of first nations--it is your only economy, and it's important because of the problems for first nations economies across the country--has there been any work to get them to work together to help solve the problem of the drainage issue?

[Allan Gaudry]

There is nobody from the agriculture committee on the resource management board. It's only the representatives of water stewardship, marketing, the FFMC, and stakeholders. There is nobody from agriculture on that committee.

I would imagine that would cause some friction with the agriculture industry, especially when it comes to these issues. If they were at the table, maybe we could iron out some of the issues and some of the concerns.

[Catherine Bell, NDP, Vancouver Island North, BC]

Just from listening to what you said, and maybe I'm completely wrong, but fish don't naturally go up these drainage canals.

[Allan Gaudry]

No, they were built, so that was not their natural—