Fisheries Committee on Oct. 29th, 2020

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Of course, Mr. Mallet.

[Martin Mallet]

This would also partially answer Mr. Battiste's question.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Of course, I would like to hear from Mr. Connors and Mr. Squires, who have mentioned this, as well. Given the amount of time I have, I would prefer they answer first. Of course, I want to hear from everyone, and you could surely also provide your answer to the committee.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

We have a minute left, so whoever wants to go first, please go.

[Kevin Squires]

I'll try to do this very quickly.

I don't know how much information the committee has. If you are confident that you have an understanding of how localized the fishery is and the local effects of the fishery, then that's a good start, but the committee is a better judge of how much information to have on hand.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Connors, do you want to add anything?

[Peter Connors]

I agree. I think that there's a lot of information out there, but I still think the whole aspect of the partnership between the fishing industry and the federal government in conservation and protection is not being taken into account.

Generally speaking, as Kevin says, it's up to the committee to decide when it has enough information.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Madame Gill. Your time has gone a little bit over.

We'll now finish up with Mr. Johns for two and a half minutes, please.

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

Thank you again, all of you, for your testimony.

Mr. Squires, do you believe that there's systemic racism in the Department of Fisheries and Oceans?

[Kevin Squires]

I'm quite honestly in no position to know that.

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

Have they done much in terms of educating fishers around rights and reconciliation? Do you believe that the department has reached out to the different representatives, groups and stakeholders to ensure that they're well educated about indigenous rights?

[Kevin Squires]

I think probably not enough. I think more can be done there, but it has to be done in a way that harvesters don't feel they're being preached to and feel included in discussions.

Obviously when tensions manage to build up to the level they are now, if people are just delivered a message about something that they generally fear, they're not going to be terribly receptive. We've lost important time.

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

Do you think there should be a national reform in terms of DFO conservation and protection, and addressing systemic racism as well, within the regulations and operational policies to protect treaty rights and the right to harvest and sell fish?

[Kevin Squires]

It's very difficult for me to answer whether you need that in the entirety. I guess an explanation for some of the decisions that were made to prosecute or not prosecute would help us understand how the department's working, but at this point we have more questions than answers.

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

As a last question, given the situation when we knew for weeks that the tension was building, do you believe the RCMP were adequately prepared to deal with the conflict that was there? Do you think that it would be the same situation if it were the other way around?

[Kevin Squires]

You're asking me to speculate, and, of course, isn't it the rule that you shouldn't speculate on stuff?

We have known for more than a couple of months or a couple of weeks that this was building and that there were tensions and questions. We've known for years. Our organization and others have been asking questions of DFO on how they were managing and regulating the fishery, and those questions really built up—

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

Do you think the government adequately protected the fishers who were there?

[Kevin Squires]

I wasn't there. I saw the press. It's really unfair for me to try to decide about what somebody who was on the spot did and how they did it.

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

If you were there, would you condemn the behaviour of those fishers?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Johns. Your time has more than expired.

That uses up our allotted time for this evening.

Mr. Morrissey, did you...?

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

I'm sorry, Chair. There were still two on the list, Mr. d'Entremont and me. I wonder if we could get agreement.... This is a very interesting panel. Could we consider the last two questioners, if Mr. d'Entremont wants to go as well?

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

I'm good. Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Okay. First of all, I'd have to check with the clerk to see if the interpreters and staff are available for an extra two slots of questioning to complete the full round.

I'm not hearing any dissent, and I see a nod and a yes, a thumbs up, from the clerk, so we'll go to Mr. d'Entremont for five minutes or less, please.

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

I'll definitely go for the less than five minutes to make sure we get it all in.

This is more for Martin, I think.

This has been something that's been talked about for the last number of years. There were challenges, especially in St. Marys Bay, but we're seeing it in other places, when it comes to the idea of an illicit fishery going on in and around the FSC fishery that was taking place. There have been examples of that at different places. Could you talk a bit about the concerns you were hearing from your members, especially in St. Marys Bay?

[A voice]

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