Evidence of meeting #66 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 process.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Do you believe that the economic impact of an MPA needs to be studied before implementing an MPA, specifically a no-take zone?
Prof. Mark Carr
In the process of implementing, it's good to incorporate that information.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Has the commercial fishing industry been impacted by the MPAs in California?
Prof. Mark Carr
Some of it has. In response to an earlier question, for much of the displaced fishing activity, let's say recreational, there is plenty of room to displace that activity. But some commercial fishers are very locally focused, so some individuals in commercial fisheries were significantly impacted.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Can you talk about the enforcement challenges that resulted from designating the fishing zones in California? As well, do you know the rough cost of the enforcement in those areas?
Prof. Mark Carr
I don't know the financial cost. There hasn't been a huge supplement to finance the enforcement costs yet, but I think it's one of these things that gradually increase.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Do you believe that the process should be speeded up in terms of designating an MPA process? I think for our government it's taking currently five to seven years for an MPA, doing the studies and consultations.
Prof. Mark Carr
No, I think what should dictate the time frame of the planning process is the ability to bring people together, collect the necessary information, and get people's—
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Okay.
Mr. Giraud, can you confirm that this next statement is true? Perhaps this will answer my colleague's question further. LNG has been shipped safely around the world for 50 years. There's never been a recorded incident involving a loss of containment of an LNG carrier at sea. LNG carriers are mong the most modern ships in the operation. The ships have complex containment systems and double hull protection, and are heavily regulated by the international federal standards. In the unlikely event that there is a spill from an LNG carrier, LNG will never mix with water. Instead, it will quickly return to a gas state, and because methane is lighter than air, the gas will rise and dissipate into the air.
Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Country Manager - Canada, Woodfibre LNG Ltd
It's true. In the Vancouver harbour area, up to our site, we will also be escorted by two to three tugs, partially tethered. We'd need to have four vessels lose engine power at the same time to have an incident.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Can you talk about some of the voluntary measures your organization is engaged in to conserve the marine environment?
Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Country Manager - Canada, Woodfibre LNG Ltd
This is a 100-year-old site. There are 3,000 creosote piles, which is subpar habitat for herring. They still lay their eggs on it, which means most of them die. We are removing those 3,000 creosote piles. There are four landfills on site, one of which is still emitting leachate into the ocean. We have an obligation to treat that. We've taken over the treatment plant, and that will be an obligation of our company in perpetuity. It's an industrial site. It's a contaminated site. Frankly, only somebody with our financial abilities could take on that burden.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
How would the Woodfibre LNG terminal impact the B.C. and Canadian economy?
Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Country Manager - Canada, Woodfibre LNG Ltd
In the first place, from a jobs perspective, we'll have 650 jobs at peak construction and 100-plus good jobs, family-supporting jobs, during operation. We'll be spending in an annual year along the lines of $80 million to $90 million in taxation alone. That doesn't include upstream.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
To this date, have you been consulted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans about MPAs?
Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Country Manager - Canada, Woodfibre LNG Ltd
No.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Thank you. Do I have much more time? One minute.
Mr. Carr, do you believe that the MPAs you've worked on in California can be directly compared to the five MPA zones being looked at in Canada?
Prof. Mark Carr
Yes, I do because fundamentally the ecology, the ecosystems, are very similar.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
The economies surrounding those MPAs are similar, as well?
Prof. Mark Carr
Depending on the part, on the different areas of California, yes they are.
Conservative
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Do you have the widespread indigenous communities, as well, that we do in ours?
Prof. Mark Carr
No, we don't have them to the extent you do. The importance of indigenous nations increases with latitude. It's marginally important in southern California, and gets stronger as you proceed up the coast of California into Oregon, Washington, and then in British Columbia it is the greatest.