Evidence of meeting #75 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 funding.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Kevin Stringer  Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Tony Matson  Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Chris Wang  As an Individual
Janice Yu  As an Individual
Sylvie Lapointe  Assistant Deputy Minister, Fisheries and Harbour Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Andy Smith  Deputy Commissioner, Strategy and Shipbuilding, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Jeffery Hutchinson  Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Melanie Giffin  Representative, Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association
Kenneth Arsenault  President, P.E.I. Shellfish Association
Ian MacPherson  Executive Director, Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Association

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Scott Simms

Good morning, everybody. Welcome.

We welcome our guests again, who certainly are no strangers to this committee. I think we just saw you, as a matter of fact, and here we are once again. This is déjà vu for all of us, but nevertheless it's important.

Pursuant to Standing Order 81(5), we are considering supplementary estimates (B) 2017-18. We have to dispense with votes 1b, 5b, and 10b under Department of Fisheries and Oceans referred to the committee on Thursday, October 26, 2017. We have to refer these back to the House.

We have Kevin Stringer, associate deputy minister; Jeffery Hutchinson, commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard; Tony Matson, assistant deputy minister and chief financial officer; Andy Smith, deputy commissioner, strategy and shipbuilding; and Sylvie Lapointe, assistant deputy minister, fisheries and harbour management.

I understand you have a one-minute verbal presentation, and then we go to a video presentation.

I'm assuming, Mr. Stringer, you will be doing it.

8:50 a.m.

Kevin Stringer Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's a pleasure to be here today on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the Canadian Coast Guard to discuss supplementary estimates (B). I would have liked to begin by introducing some of my colleagues, but the chair has already done so.

Through the 2017-18 supplementary estimates (B) exercise, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is seeking $55.3 million that will be used for a variety of initiatives. Our chief financial officer will provide an overview of areas of funding. However, before turning the floor over to Mr. Matson, I want to say how proud DFO and the Coast Guard are of the progress we've made this past year. We recognize that much of our success stems from the historic investments that have been made in our department and a renewed commitment to scientific excellence, marine safety and the protection of our marine environment.

We also recognize that work remains to re-establish Canada as a world leader on all matters related to the health of our oceans and aquatic resources.

We are confident these important investments that we are discussing today will assist us in this regard.

And now I'll turn the floor over to Mr. Matson who will run through a presentation, after which we will all be pleased to answer your questions.

People are working on a slide presentation in French and perhaps in English. Tony's going to speak English. The presentation at this point is in French. We're working on getting the English up there as well.

Tony.

8:50 a.m.

Tony Matson Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

That's excellent.

Thank you, Mr. Stringer.

Hello, Mr. Chair, and committee members.

My name is Tony Matson. I am the chief financial officer at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Let me reiterate our associate deputy minister's message by saying that I am pleased to be here this morning to go over the 2017-18 supplementary estimates (B) of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

I prepared very brief remarks. This should allow plenty of time to go through any questions the committee may have. I would like you to follow along using the provided power point presentation, as my opening remarks are aligned with that document.

As outlined on slide 2, we are currently in the midst of the second supply period. Section 26 of the Financial Administration Act requires all spending to be approved by Parliament. Supply bills are referred to committee, where the contents are studied before voting takes place, hence our presence here today.

The honourable Mr. Brison tabled the 2017-18 supplementary estimates (B) on Thursday, October 26, on behalf of all organizations. Earlier that month, on Friday, October 5, he also tabled the 2016-17 public accounts.

I'll move now to slide 3 and provide a summary on Fisheries and Oceans supplementary estimates and authorities to date. We are seeking Parliament's approval on a grand total of $55.3 million, which is broken down by vote as presented in the table. This would bring our voted authorities to date to $2.662 billion, as $2.606 billion has already been voted by Parliament through the main estimates, supplementary estimates (A), as well as transfers from central votes for our carry-forwards, and an advance from TB vote 5 for emergency assistance related to severe ice conditions on the east coast.

Although supplementary estimates (A) was directed at budget 2017 items and/or other key initiatives, three other budget 2017 items—aquatic invasive species, small craft harbours, and enhancements of the indigenous fisheries program suite—were not sufficiently developed at the time for inclusion back in the spring. All three items are included in these supplementary estimates (B).

Please note that the numbers quoted are those you are being asked to vote on. The bottom line numbers in the table include statutory authorities, more specifically, employee benefits, which has its own separate enabling legislation and is presented for information purposes only.

The table is an exact reproduction of what is presented on page 2-32 of the supplementary estimates publication

or on page 2-80 in the French version.

We will now shift to slide 4 of the presentation which itemizes those items contained in the supplementary estimates. You can also find these on pages 2-32, 2-33, and 2-34 under the explanation of requirements section

or on pages 2-80, 2-81 and 2-83 in the French version.

The highest dollar value item in these supplementary estimates is actually not new incremental funding. It is an adjustment to existing funding where we are re-profiling approved funding from 2018-19 to 2017-18 to reflect the new contract structure with Vancouver Shipyards, recently approved by the Treasury Board ministers to ensure the successful completion of three new offshore fisheries science vessels.

The next largest item is one-year funding for the Atlantic fisheries fund program that will support the fish and seafood sector in Atlantic Canada with targeted actions to stimulate the region's economy and increase job opportunities for Atlantic Canadians. Minister Leblanc and Minister Foote announced this seven-year program back on March 10, 2017, and reiterated the importance of boosting the economy and increasing employment opportunities for middle-class Canadians in coastal communities.

The last two items are budget 2017 initiatives. There is $5.7 million being sought to address the threat of aquatic invasive species, such as Asian carp, in high-risk waterways. Budget 2017 committed $43.8 million over five years, including $10.7 million on an ongoing basis, to bolster Canada's efforts in monitoring and controlling. As well, $5 million is one-year funding to further support small craft harbours. This budget 2017 funding helps us continue to play a major role in ensuring that small craft harbours are well maintained and safe.

Slide 5 starts off with our third and last budget 2017 item, which is another piece to this commitment to promote the economic resilience of indigenous communities. This $3.6 million, $82.2 million over five-year, item includes $28.6 million in ongoing funding and will allow us to kick-start a new commercial program, the northern integrated commercial fisheries initiative, and to enhance our current collaborative management programs.

More concretely, as an example, this will allow certain indigenous groups that are currently ineligible under our current Atlantic and Pacific initiatives to access funding to support aquatic development, and new access capital tools for the commercial programs.

The second item on slide 5 is the renewal of funding, $3.4 million this year, $20.2 million over five years, of which $4.2 million is ongoing. This will fund the HR and operating costs necessary to support the negotiation of land claims with first nations.

The remaining two items on slide 5 are technical, routine, and non-controversial in nature. They appear in supplementary estimates pretty much every year.

Slide 6 covers a few lower-dollar initiatives and a couple of vote 10 transfer payment re-profiles to ensure our funding profiles are being aligned to update project timelines or to match recipient requirements.

Finally, in terms of the conversions for our votes, there are multiple transfers that are neutral either for the government or for the department.

If you have any questions about these 14 transfers, I am sure we will be able to provide you with additional information.

This concludes my opening remarks on supplementary estimates (B).

My colleagues and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

8:55 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Scott Simms

Thank you.

I want to point out to colleagues that all of you have supplementary estimates (B) as a handout. To avoid any confusion, you'll notice that it doesn't really end down here. This pertains to other departments. This is a very large book. It's the blue book, as we call it. What pertains to this particular meeting is in the middle between Finance and Foreign affairs. That's just to avoid any confusion.

We have some very special guests.

I want to welcome Mr. Guy Lauzon from the riding of Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry. It's nice to see you, sir. Thank you for joining us.

Do you have the Glengarry Highland Games in your riding?

9 a.m.

Conservative

Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON

They're just a little outside my riding.

9 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Scott Simms

That's unfortunate for you, sir. That's too bad. They're a great time, the highland games. They're in Maxville, aren't they?

Anyway, we also have two very special guests. I always say that the most important people in the room are the youngest people when it comes to the future of our country. We have two special guests with us, and I'm going to allow our MPs to introduce them.

I think they're from the Boys & Girls Clubs and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

9 a.m.

Liberal

Terry Beech Liberal Burnaby North—Seymour, BC

It's Big Brothers Big Sisters, and with me is Janice Yu from Vancouver. She has been doing a number of leadership programs since she has been here, but she's leaving tonight. She's going to shadow me today, and she'll see us at question period later today as well.

9 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Scott Simms

She'll see us in our finest form. That's great.

Mr. Doherty.

9 a.m.

Conservative

Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC

Mr. Chair, it's an honour for me to introduce to our committee here, and everybody that's out there, Mr. Chris Wang who comes to us from Big Brothers Big Sisters from Burnaby North. He's a former cadet for four-plus years, loves snowboarding, and is currently at SFU. I'm really proud to have him as a shadow. He's shadowing the shadow minister today.

9 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Scott Simms

That's great. There we go.

Chris and Janice, it's nice of you to be with us today.

You were a cadet. What type of cadet were you?

9 a.m.

Chris Wang As an Individual

I was a sea cadet, sir.

9 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Scott Simms

You were a sea cadet. I was an air cadet, but we're still cadets all together.

Janice, what school do you go to?

9 a.m.

Janice Yu As an Individual

I go to Windermere Secondary School.

9 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Scott Simms

Oh, very good.

All right, guys, thanks for joining us all the way from British Columbia.

Let's continue on. We have our questions, of course.

Up first we have Ms. Jordan, please, for seven minutes.

9 a.m.

Liberal

Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, once again, to the department officials for being here.

I'm going to focus a lot of my remarks on small craft harbours. I'm seeing here that there were 85 major capital construction projects on wharves, floats, shore protection, and other assets at 78 small craft harbours.

What percentage of small craft harbours is that in this country? It's a very small percentage. Is that a correct assumption?

9 a.m.

Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Kevin Stringer

I'll start, and I'll ask Sylvie to jump in.

There are 750 approximately core harbours, about 1,000 overall including non-core, so, yes, that is approximately 10% of our core harbours.

9 a.m.

Liberal

Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS

In your estimation—and I'm not sure you can answer this question, but I'm hoping—how many of that 1,000 actually need work?

9 a.m.

Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Kevin Stringer

I will ask Sylvia to speak to that one.

We have a good sense of what's required. Our main objective is safety and security, so if you're looking at it from a safety and security perspective, and that is the key piece, we do seek to always make sure we're doing what we need to do. In terms of what needs work, many of them need work to improve the situation they are in.

Sylvie, do you want to add to that?

9 a.m.

Sylvie Lapointe Assistant Deputy Minister, Fisheries and Harbour Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Thank you.

Good morning, everyone.

We have about 53% of our core fishing harbours that are either in fair or in poor condition.

9 a.m.

Liberal

Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS

They are all in my riding. Sorry.

Okay, when you make decisions on who gets funded, I understand there's a scoring system. Is that correct?

9 a.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Fisheries and Harbour Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Sylvie Lapointe

There is a rigorous peer review process that takes place with headquarters and the regions to assess where the investment should be made. That's based on the condition of the harbour, how much the harbour is used, how many fishing vessels there are that access the harbour, and if there are any safety concerns. They are prioritized within those parameters.

9 a.m.

Liberal

Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS

How often does DFO do those reviews? Does it review every wharf every year? I'm just wondering, because in my riding I have a number of small craft harbours. I think I have 73. The concern I have is that I'm hearing about things but nobody has seen these wharves for years. Nobody has actually assessed them, and by the time they get assessed, what needs to be fixed is quite bad.

I am just wondering how that process works in terms of making sure things are safe and usable.

9 a.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Fisheries and Harbour Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Sylvie Lapointe

There is a yearly review in terms of where the investments are made. There is a mid-year review process as well to determine whether we're on track or whether we need to shift resources.

9 a.m.

Liberal

Bernadette Jordan Liberal South Shore—St. Margarets, NS

I don't mean where the money is allocated. I mean where the wharves need the work. Sometimes it's not the same thing, I would say.

9:05 a.m.

Assistant Deputy Minister, Fisheries and Harbour Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Sylvie Lapointe

I believe that assessment is part of the review that takes place to determine where the investments are made, so there is an assessment that's made overall in terms of the conditions of the harbours across the country.