Fisheries Committee on Sept. 26th, 2017

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

To our two witnesses, thank you for your early start this morning.

Both of you, Ms. Spalding for sure, made a statement that decisions should be based on factual science. I agree with you that we need to know what it is we're doing, and why we're doing it, before we do something. But I want to draw your attention to a line in the summary of Bill C-55 with regard to the Oceans Act. It states:

This enactment amends the Oceans Act to, among other things,

(d) provide that the Governor in Council and Minister cannot use the lack of scientific certainty regarding the risks posed by any activity as a reason to postpone or refrain from exercising their powers or performing their duties and functions under subsection 35(3) or 35.1(2);

Does this raise a concern for you that the minister or the Governor in Council could implement changes, restrictions, or MPAs in an area without scientific reasoning to do so?

[Donna Spalding]

Mr. Arnold, thank you for the question. Without being critical, I think we've already seen that happen with regard to the right whales on the east coast. Transport Canada has indicated to us, as has DFO, that they don't have a lot of scientific data. We know that there are 12 whales who have met unfortunate ends this year. Many of those are entanglements with fishing gear, not necessarily ship strikes.

We respect the action that has been taken. Don't get us wrong for one minute. We work with it as much as we can. Our concern is for going forward. If we don't take the scientific data that we have, as little as that may be, and try to work with those people who actually are out there, the shipping companies, the ships themselves.... The use of technology and the use of monitoring by individual ships can add to that data, and we can mitigate some of those impacts.

When we get to an MPA on the west coast, it's a little different. We have some initiatives going forward on the west coast that many people do not agree with. They don't agree with them for their...because it's not what they agree with. We'll talk about oil tankers; just put it out on the table.

Things in shipping have changed drastically over the years. I remember 30-odd years ago we had a ship in Alaska that was a single hull and there was a horrendous oil spill. We don't have those ships here anymore. We don't have ships that dump waste that hasn't been treated. We don't have ships that dump garbage. Everybody is watching now. We see people on cruise ships taking pictures of things as they happen, and it hits social media. You can't afford to dirty the waters where you sail.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Have you been consulted on, or have you been able to provide, information and data, such as whale sightings and locations, to DFO, Coast Guard, and so on? And have you offered up other technology you might have?

I'll leave that open for either of you to reply to.

[Donna Spalding]

We have offered it up, and yes, we do it in other areas. We do it in Alaska, through a system similar to what Mr. Obermeyer was suggesting for the pilotage units. We do it with outlooks on bridge watch teams. They see the whales. It goes to the forest service in Glacier Bay. The forest service has a blog. Everybody signs up for the blog. It's an immediate notification on the ships system and on the pilots system.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Have you offered that same type of information up in Canada, and has it been accepted or refused?

[Donna Spalding]

Yes, sir, we have. They appreciate knowing about it, but we're not getting anywhere past the idea. We just have to slow ships down so they make less noise. The use of technology, for that to happen, will take years to install on ships.

[Capt Kevin Obermeyer]

I would concur with those remarks. We've also offered it up.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Has it been accepted or used?

[Capt Kevin Obermeyer]

So far, no.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Thank you, Mr. Arnold. I have to stop you there.

We now come to a conclusion. We want to thank our special guests from the Pacific Pilotage Authority, Kevin Obermeyer, and also from the Cruise Lines International Association, Ms. Donna Spalding.

You were early risers this morning. We thank you for doing that and for helping out in our study.

To our special guests—Mr. Holland, Mr. Badawey, and Mr. Johns—thank you.

Colleagues, we'll see you on Thursday.

The meeting is adjourned.