Evidence of meeting #145 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was million.
A video is available from Parliament.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Can you do that for the last few years and each year broken down?
Deputy Commissioner, Operations, Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes, we have that.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Thank you.
I have one more comment. Kennedy Lake, in my riding, didn't have a single recorded sockeye salmon return last year. It's the first time in our history. We have fishers who are out of work. They haven't been given EI. There's no compensation; area G trollers still haven't gotten their compensation from the Pacific Salmon Treaty.
You've announced $17 million here, and we're in a crisis with our fish. How did you come up with that number? Communities are looking for a lot more. You know how desperately we need to get money injected into restoration and into our communities. We've talked about enhancement. We may not agree on that piece, but we desperately need more than this, sooner than later. That $17 million isn't even close to what we're expecting.
Liberal
Jonathan Wilkinson Liberal North Vancouver, BC
With respect to restoration, that is exactly what the $142 million is intended to do, to provide funding for community groups on the ground to engage in restoration-related work. I think the $17 million you're talking about is the Pacific Salmon Treaty funds.
Liberal
Jonathan Wilkinson Liberal North Vancouver, BC
We are looking at that in the context of a range of different applications for it on an go-forward basis.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
But you can't have that money sitting there when it's meant to do exactly this, and these fishers are.... People are losing their houses right now. They can't wait till August 20 to open a fishery and not get anything between now and then.
I'm hoping you'll come back with something sooner than later.
Liberal
Jonathan Wilkinson Liberal North Vancouver, BC
Just to clarify, it's not August 20, though. The catch-and-release fishery is open the whole way through. For some areas it's July 15, and for some it's August 1.
Liberal
Jonathan Wilkinson Liberal North Vancouver, BC
The commercial fleet in the north, yes, starts August 20.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
The commercial fleet is in trouble, and there hasn't been any offering from the government. I'm hoping you're going to do something immediately to support these fishers and their families. It's part of our culture and our coast, and it's important that we do everything we can, and I haven't seen anything.
Liberal
Jonathan Wilkinson Liberal North Vancouver, BC
I totally recognize that, and it's certainly something that is obviously a cause for lots of concern. I don't minimize the impacts in any way.
NDP
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Again, Minister, thank you for making yourself available today. I understand the officials are going to stay for the next hour, so we'll continue on with questioning.
We'll suspend for a moment while the minister is saying his goodbyes.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
We'll start again and get into the next hour.
I will remind everyone that we are extending a little bit at the end for some committee business. We're going to extend for 15 minutes or so.
We go now to questions for the officials from the Liberal side.
Mr. Fraser, you have seven minutes or less.
Liberal
Colin Fraser Liberal West Nova, NS
Thanks very much.
Picking up on the last exchange that I had with the minister regarding investments in the Coast Guard, I understand that a number of investments have been made over the last couple of years to enhance the safety profile of the Canadian Coast Guard in order to keep fishers safe on the water. Could you go into some details about some of those things? For example, in the estimates, I believe there are 40 emergency tow kits. Have other similar types of investments been made that will be important for keeping fishers safe while on the water?
Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Absolutely. I'll turn it over to the commissioner for more detail.
Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
We have made a range of investments in improving on-water safety. We had contracts for 12 search and rescue boats, as you may know, under the OPP. That was increased to 20 search and rescue lifeboats. Those boats are coming into service. I can tell you that there's never been a shipbuilding project in the Coast Guard that people have been more proud of, because of the capability of those boats.
Because of the investments and comprehensive review, we've been able to reassure ourselves that our front-line people are trained and at the ready. We have restored training dollars. There was a period of time when we felt like we were putting our training dollars into our gas tanks. Now the training program is reinvigorated. As you mentioned, there's the deployment so far of 49 emergency tow kits, of which 25.... Let me rephrase that: 25 large vessels will be equipped with emergency tow kits. I rephrase it because in some cases a ship could have more than one, but 49 of them have been deployed so far. That number will soon exceed 60. They are both land-based and ship-based. We have two emergency tow vessels in service under lease on the west coast, which provides us with a significant capacity to prevent problems before they reach our shores. Particularly when large vessels—not usually fishing vessels, which was the focus of your question—find themselves in difficulty, we have better capability today to respond than we did just a short period ago.
I could go on; there are other investments, such as the reopening and opening of new lifeboat stations across the north shore of Newfoundland—in St. Anthony, for example, and Old Perlican. One reopening that wasn't mentioned earlier is the St. John's MRSC, a search and rescue coordination centre. It's a sub-centre from JRCC Halifax, which has also given us surge capacity when things on the water have been more difficult.
Liberal
Colin Fraser Liberal West Nova, NS
Can I just follow up on that point and ask about your working with the Canadian Forces? I have Greenwood in my riding as well. I know on “dumping day”, the opening of the lobster season in southwestern Nova Scotia, it's a major operation, coordinated between the Coast Guard, as I understand it, and also the search and rescue units from Greenwood to patrol the maritime coastline. I am wondering how well coordinated that is, in your view, and if there is anything more that could be done to ensure good results.
Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
This is a seamless system in which Canadians can have a huge amount of confidence. I think that was underscored in the recent Senate report on search and rescue called “When Every Minute Counts”. We work very closely with our forces colleagues. As you know, in the JRCC our operators and their operators sit in the same room. They can speak with each other as easily as you and I are speaking now—except they don't need the microphones. When it comes to an event like dumping day, we are, as we'd say, “lashed up”. We have their assets deployed. We have our assets deployed. We have incident command in place.
This is a system that works extremely well. It's a strong partnership. It's a model for other countries to follow. They do come and visit us to see what they can take away. Could it be stronger? With the investments we are making on both the forces side and the Coast Guard side, I think the right investments are being made to keep the system strong.
Liberal
Colin Fraser Liberal West Nova, NS
It's an impressive undertaking. I commend the work you do to ensure that our fishers are kept safe, especially at that time of year, when it's extremely risky getting boats out on the water.
This question is for any of the officials. I asked the minister about the Atlantic fisheries fund, and we talked about the science and research component. I know there is also a focus on export readiness and ensuring that processors are able to perhaps have the tools they need in order to expand markets around the globe. Do you have any comment on how that's going under the Atlantic fisheries fund, as far as seeing new growth in emerging markets around the world is concerned?
Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Certainly that's a key strand of the program, along with innovation as well. I think one of the good things about the program is how the different strands work together. If the industry is going to serve the increased demand for seafood around the world that we're seeing from both existing markets and emerging markets, it will need innovation. It will need new techniques. It will need labour-saving technology. A lot of the projects that are rolling through the Atlantic fisheries fund right now are very much in that direction.
Liberal
Colin Fraser Liberal West Nova, NS
I'll quickly go back to my very first question of the minister regarding small craft harbours. I think everybody understands why those investments are so important.
With regard to repair work that needs to happen on a timely basis, I know there are certain examples at least in my riding and in other areas of Atlantic Canada, and perhaps on the west coast as well, where it does take some time to get those repairs done. Is there something that could be done to improve the efficiency with regard to not only identifying those but also getting the funds to the wharves to ensure safety?