Fisheries Committee on Oct. 26th, 2020

[Ian MacPherson]

Certainly, we think that would be a positive step. We have no idea of what's in those plans. As as I mentioned earlier, when you're consistently running up to “we can't share this” and “we can't mention that”.... We get that to a degree, but that has caused some of the angst, for sure.

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

How about you, Mr. Barron? Would you say that if you had those plans in front of you and they met both the transparency and sustainability aspects, it would be possible to get that support?

[Michael Barron]

Again, it would be hard to say that you could render that support without actually seeing the document. It would have to be put in front of all the associations for the associations to see.

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

I have one last question. Do you think that having the fishermen's associations giving their testimony to these committees is a good start in terms of hearing from the fishermen themselves?

[Ian MacPherson]

We would say absolutely. Dialogue is always good, for sure.

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

How about you, Mr. Barron?

[Ian MacPherson]

I guess one last thing is that we're talking about everyone's livelihoods, and those are pretty important things.

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

Absolutely.

Would you echo those comments, Mr. Barron?

[Michael Barron]

Yes, I would echo those comments.

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

I have no further questions. Thank you.

[Michael Barron]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Battiste. You were right on the mark at five minutes. Boy, that was pretty good. You're the first one this evening.

We'll now go to Madam Gill for two and a half minutes or less, please.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Some stakeholders said that the committee could play an educational role in order to dismantle certain perceptions and ensure better collaboration.

What do you think of this statement, and what were your general expectations for your appearance before this committee?

[Ian MacPherson]

Could I have the question repeated? I missed the first part of it.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Certainly. I hope that this won't shorten the time for the response.

Some stakeholders said that this committee must play an educational role to ensure better collaboration among the various stakeholders. What do you think about this? Also, do you have other expectations in terms of the work of this committee and in light of your testimony?

[Ian MacPherson]

Well, I guess our expectation would be that something comes out of this—that the fisheries committee, a vital committee, follows up, and that actions being spoken to or committed to are followed up.

This was where a lot of the frustration in the groups over the past year came from. We seem to have spun our wheels, and it's led to some significant problems in the industry.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Barron, what do you think?

[Michael Barron]

I feel that the role of the committee would be to increase this dialogue through the department and with first nations, because the dialogue has to be started. Hopefully by having this committee, we can start the discussions.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Barron. Thank you, Madame Gill.

We'll now go to Mr. Johns for two and a half minutes or less, please.

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

As a question of both of your organizations, do you have any goals when it comes to reconciliation? Do you have any plans around community engagement, or learning and listening plans when it comes to the indigenous communities whose lands you're on? By comparison, unions often have strong targets to educate their members around support for indigenous workers within their memberships.

Can you speak, from your organization's lens, to what you're doing?

[Michael Barron]

As I mentioned a few moments ago, we're looking to have the discussions with Chief Terry and are looking forward to hearing his views. Once we understand the views that they have, then we can address the situation and address that to our membership.

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

Mr. MacPherson and Mr. Jenkins, do you want to comment on that as well?

[Ian MacPherson]

I have one quick thing, Mr. Johns. It's from your last round, when we ran out of time. We do have.... Members have to be in good standing with the association, and the board would deal with something of the kind you alluded to earlier.

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

I appreciate that.