Evidence of meeting #33 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was licences.
A video is available from Parliament.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
That's grand.
We heard about Royal Greenland and the $52 million in profits. That's money leaving our country.
Here you have a company where you're generating profit that's going to stay in the hands of local shareholders and the local community.
Maybe you can only speak on your own perspective, but can you speak about how important this is for reconciliation in terms of indigenous participation in the resource and self-determination?
Vice-President, Business Development and Public Affairs, Membertou Corporate, Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership
For the Mi'kmaq, and the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, this was our first access to the offshore, which was a pretty monumental step.
We've been working closely with Clearwater for some time. They get reconciliation. They understand what it means. We saw that early on. We spent a lot of time getting to know each other. We've done other agreements in the past that have seen benefits to the communities and we trust each other. They see us more as equals and as a partner in the community, and now owners.
I can't define reconciliation in any other way than that we now own 50% of Clearwater, and that's a big deal.
Vice-President, Sustainability and Public Affairs, Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership
It has been an honour for me to participate in this process. As Jennifer said, we've worked together on a variety of deals before this. Clearwater announced that it was putting itself up for sale in March 2020, and the Mi'kmaq were at the table from the beginning.
It has just been an honour to participate in, frankly, such a historic event for Canadian fisheries and see the Mi'kmaq take their place at the table, both at our boardroom table and at the industry table from an offshore perspective. That is going to be a huge positive step for the entire industry going forward.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Thank you. I appreciate that.
As you are aware, there have been some concerns regarding the sale. You can use the last few minutes of my time to talk about any issues that maybe haven't come up, that you haven't addressed, around removing those concerns. Please feel free to talk about anything that might have been missed.
Ms. Penney, do you want to lead off on that?
Vice-President, Sustainability and Public Affairs, Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership
I would just go back to the earlier statements.
It has been a bit puzzling for me personally as to where the concerns were coming from. When I hear that perhaps there was a misperception that these were being converted to commercial communal licences, I can see where maybe that would have raised some questions.
Again, I don't see this as something that should be creating concern for the rest of the industry. The industry at large has understood that there has been an appetite for further participation by indigenous groups in the fishery, and has been looking for ways to partner and work with the indigenous community to build relationships on a business level.
This transaction has created a model for economic reconciliation in Canada that will serve the fishing industry and it goes beyond that to other industries as well. This is a transaction where the Mi'kmaq participate equally in every aspect of the company, from governance to operations, to the financial benefits that are generated from the company and to the employment benefits Jennifer spoke to.
We've certainly been able to provide reassurance to our employees that no one is going to lose their job as a result of this transaction, but we will be redoubling and refocusing our efforts on our diversity commitments and making sure that we are providing opportunities for Mi'kmaq individuals at every level of the company.
We've recently hired an indigenous employment officer who will lead that effort across the company. She will be working with the individual communities, with Mi'kmaq individuals, to make sure that job opportunities are well advertised and well known, that we're also looking at training and recruitment gaps and ensuring that Clearwater continues to grow and continues be a visibly indigenous-owned company.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Mr. Johns.
That kind of clues up this portion of our meeting today.
I want to say thank you, Ms. Penney and Ms. Deleskie, for coming to committee today and giving your valued testimony. I also extend a big thank you to Clearwater for helping to create local economies and for helping small communities survive that much better.
I want to tell everyone that we don't have time to go any further with anything. All the party whips are in agreement that we end now. I will say thank you to the analysts, to the clerks, to the translators and to everybody for participating. I also offer a special thank you to Madam Desbiens for being here today. We'll see everybody on Wednesday.
Thank you.
The meeting is adjourned.