Evidence of meeting #24 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 miramichi.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Thank you, Mr. Arnold.
Mr. Aucoin, has there been a study on the benefits or the impact of the lime process in that river?
President, Nova Scotia Salmon Association
I could provide you with all kinds of that. The scientist we've hired recently with the funding from the province actually did his Bachelor of Science, his Master of Science, and his Ph.D. with us, all doing the same research. So, yes, we have plenty of research to support what we're doing, but again, it has taken a long time because, generally, it's been all volunteer effort, so the time is doubled and tripled.
I don't know if that answers your question.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
We'd just like to see it. It's had 10 years of operation, and we'd like to see the pre-, during, and post- opportunities and the impacts on that river.
President, Nova Scotia Salmon Association
I'll see what I can dig up and I'll provide the committee and chair with whatever I think is pertinent to that question.
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Thank you for coming, for your leadership, and your passion to improve the health of our oceans and our communities. It's greatly appreciated.
Mr. Grey, you kind of got cut short earlier. You wanted to talk about the impacts of industrialization, the impacts of forestry that you touched on briefly, and the potential energy east project and how that might impact our salmon. Do you want to talk a little about that?
Consultation Liaison, Kingsclear First Nation, As an Individual
Sure.
He said I shouldn't be going over the top of the NEB process or anything like that. Of course, standing aside from the NEB process, if it does actually go through, the cabinet and ministers have the final say on most of these projects.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
You could even talk about the past, and the impact right now from forestry and what's happening from current projects.
Consultation Liaison, Kingsclear First Nation, As an Individual
I wasn't actually talking about forestry. It was the Mactaquac dam, Sisson mine, and energy east.
My closing is that with the cumulative impacts we have already experienced, we stand to be significantly impacted by these additional projects. Our livelihoods, culture, traditions, way of life, with respect to our traditional waters, and salmon in particular, have been impacted and will continue to be should we continue along the same path of industrial growth.
With the Sisson mine in particular, obviously it destroys two salmon habitat brooks. It's a 1,700-hectare footprint. It stomps right into the middle of salmon habitat. The study that I have was made by the Canadian Rivers Institute. It basically assumed a lot of silly things, like 100% lethality for water released from the tailings pond, which is a little absurd. It also projected, in a simplistic model, that it could have a zero return in the Nashwaak River by as early as 2028, without any negative effect from the proposed project.
We already have the decline, so any further negative impacts are really horrible for any salmon; I mean the Nashwaak in particular, because it's one of the few unobstructed habitats left for salmon. The Nashwaak River is a fairly large tributary of the Saint John River. It is unobstructed by dams, unlike say upwards of the Tobique.
I have a lot of problems with industrial projects getting approved and approved, because they all build on one another.
Chief, Eel Ground First Nation
Very briefly about forestry, I need to advise the board that the Mi'kmaq chiefs of New Brunswick are actually in court with the province in regard to the forest management plan, the new plan: increased harvests, decreased buffers and deer yards, use of contentious sprays, the province delegating management to industry. We all have issues with that. We've been trying to get to the table for a number of years and so far no luck, so we find ourselves litigating because we are concerned about it.
We did get to present to the National Energy Board panel, which is no longer in regard to energy east. We had raised concerns with the pipeline being in the upper reaches of the Miramichi, the Southwest Miramichi, which is actually the stronger salmon river. With regard to the Northwest numbers, the returns have been down. The numbers are not being reached on the Northwest as well as they are on the Southwest. To put the Southwest at risk concerns us extremely. If there were a spill in the upper reaches of the Miramichi or the Cains, the damage that could happen to the salmon and any other fish populations would be devastating to our people, to our way of life.
Thank you for indulging me.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
Thank you very much.
I want to thank our guests here today. It was very interesting, obviously, from the results of the overtime that we went into. We appreciate that. We know time is constrained for us.
From here, we take the information that you've given us. We draft a report. We amend the report, if needed, with recommendations. It will be tabled in the House. I can't give you an exact date of that because of the debates and witnesses and so on. Obviously, by the end of this year you will see a report tabled in the House, perhaps maybe in early December.
That being said, Mr. Carr, Chief Ginnish, Mr. Ward, Mr. Mahendrappa, Monsieur Aucoin, Ms. Paul, and Mr. Grey, we thank you very, very much, from all of us. We appreciate your time.
The meeting is adjourned.