Fisheries Committee on Jan. 27th, 2021

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Thank you, Chair.

Mr. Hardie is right. On the salmon, whatever we need to do to get it finished.... It has been on and off again, and in order to do it justice, we could come up with a common approach on how we're going to proceed with it.

I support Mr. Bragdon's list where he identified the three at first. Then we'll go on to hear from Mr. Johns what study he would like to do as well. The list that Mr. Bragdon introduced at the beginning of the meeting is a list that I certainly support. Before we get to that, we should decide on how we're going to bring the salmon study to a conclusion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Yes, agreed.

Mr. Arnold.

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

I think it's been an interesting year for science on the Pacific salmon front, and on that it would be good to bring in someone like Kristi Miller-Saunders, preferably. She has been involved with the strategic salmon health initiative and I think could provide some valuable information for the committee on this study. I would support what we need to do to have her in to testify.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

In listening to Nancy, I think she is one of the potential witnesses who will be contacted to appear.

Mr. Johns, do you want to speak on the same issue?

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Yes. I'm sorry. I don't want to belabour everything here on salmon, but I think there's been some confusion, because we submitted a list in July and some people haven't been called. I'm wondering if we were supposed to be resubmitting them in December.

I know that the committee has been flexible. We were flexible. We allowed the Conservatives to bring forward witnesses on the Mi'kmaq study on very short notice, and it was good. They were important witnesses to hear from.

I'm just thinking that there might be some gaps, that we have some people who haven't actually been called yet.

The other thing is that we haven't even looked at enhancement. We haven't heard much on the hatchery front, which is really important. I know that Mel has talked a lot about hatcheries and the importance of hatcheries. I know that Owen in the Sport Fishing Institute of B.C. had Washington state testify before their group and they were excellent. I think we should be hearing from them as well.

On the other studies, on the IUU, I really want to make sure we're expanding that internationally as well, Mel, to look at the illegal fishing there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Mr. Johns, I know that earlier you mentioned adding witnesses. We were on the old Zoom then, and we could get away with it more easily, but as I read out in my earlier statement, we now need witnesses submitted at least two weeks prior to the start of any study so that we can make sure they have the right equipment and everything to take part in the actual debate or have them submit written submissions.

I'd like to get the salmon thing put to bed, if we can, and decide from there where we're going.

Jaime.

[Jaime Battiste, Liberal, Sydney—Victoria, NS]

I would like to support Gord and Ken's thoughts around expanding the salmon study. I think that we haven't heard from the department and we haven't heard a lot of solutions. I'd like to get to some of that. I think it's important that we do a thorough study on the salmon, and if it requires another meeting or two, then I'm willing to support that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Mr. Bragdon.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

I would just echo that we certainly are in support of getting the additional meetings that are required, if it's one or two meetings, to bring proper resolution to the salmon study for sure and to get the remaining witnesses that we need to get before the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Are you suggesting one meeting more to do the salmon, or are you suggesting two? Let's put it to bed one way or the other because we can't schedule anything else until we know where we're going with that.

Mr. Hardie.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

For sure, we need to hear from the science, and Kristi Miller is on everybody's list, I think, for that. We need to hear from the DFO, and I would propose that they be the last ones we bring in for all of the reasons that we met before. That might be one and a half meetings total.

Gord, you had some others that you were hoping to hear from, so two more?

If we ask for two more, is that pushing our luck?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

No, we're in charge of our own domain, so if the consensus is to add two more meetings to the salmon study and that's what the committee members want, that's what the committee members will get. I'm not hearing any objections.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

I apologize, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Yes, Madame Gill.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

I'm not opposed to that, it's that I can't get the floor with my hand up. It doesn't work in my case either. That's why I had to interrupt you. I apologize for that.

I think you said earlier that it would be possible to have a study day during the recess week when we won't be on the Hill. You talked about March 10. Is that possible?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

No, my understanding is that the 10th wouldn't be the proposed deadline for members to send to the analysts supplementary drafting instructions. It's actually a constituency week, a break week, and I don't think it's possible to do it. Monday the 15th is not a sitting day. It's a holiday, and to get staff to come in on that particular day would probably be next to impossible as well.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Mr. Chair, I know that this is a very serious matter, and I apologize if I interrupted Madame Gill, but if you're looking for more time, I've been signed up against my will for husband improvement courses on Sunday afternoons, so I'm more than happy to have an opportunity to meet as a committee and work on Sunday afternoons, if that helps the cause.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

That's very kind of you.

Can I just put forward that we look at adding one and a half or two meetings if need be? We'll let the clerk look at the witness list that she has to see who she can line up when, adding the DFO officials in there as well.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

That sounds good.

Is there any chance that we can still add some witnesses if they were submitted in July and somehow didn't end up on the list after prorogation and the resetting?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Nancy.

[The Clerk]

I was about to suggest, Mr. Chair, that, if you would like, I could send the past list of witnesses and the new list of witnesses that I received in December so that members can have a look at the two lists and come back to identify some witnesses they really want to hear from in the next couple of meetings.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Can we set a hard deadline on that, Nancy? Shall we say 5 p.m. this Friday?

[The Clerk]

It's up to you. Definitely.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Okay, 5 p.m. on Friday. The clerk is going to send around a list of people who are still on the list and we haven't heard from. With regard to any new witnesses that you want to appear, I suggest that you have them in then and no later. That would include the DFO officials, of course. Is everybody in agreement with that?

Perfect. Finally, consensus.

I'd like to thank Mr. Simms for all his input on that topic as we were moving through. You were very co-operative.

Everyone is kind of agreeing with the IUU study and the seal and the recreational fishery, I think.

Gord, you're going to have a look at something that you might want to put forward. I don't know if you're doing that today in committee business or....

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

One thing we're not opposed to, and if it's short, is the seafood fraud study, the motion that was put forward. I think Mel outlined that, or Mr. Bragdon did, at the beginning. It's Mr. Mazier's motion. I don't think it's a long study. It's a one- or two-day study. That's a really good study and we very much support it. I don't think it's going to take long, but it's important.