Thank you for the question.
I will try to answer by first giving you a little context. I have had some contact with Innu fishers on the North Shore, who experienced tension but not to the extent of the tension we experienced with the Mi'kmaq. However, in the case of the Innu, at the beginning of the fishing season for both commercial and subsistence fishing, the processes are exactly the same for commercial fishing—with the licence buyout and the rest—and for the subsistence fishing in the region. There was a lot of friction at the outset, although not to the same extent, meaning that there were no criminal acts, for example.
Furthermore, the Innu fisheries manager at the time told me, during our discussions, that their solution was to become fully involved in the fishermen's associations. As a result, the Innu of the North Shore are part of the Lower North Shore Fishermen's Association, and therefore of all fishermen's associations. There was really a proactive will to be part of those associations in order to have a voice and be able to move forward.
I don't think this is the case in Nova Scotia, where, clearly, there is division and a great deal of tension.
To come back to your question, we see that co-management is sometimes used in times of extremely high tension. It's a way of forcing people to sit around the table and come up with solutions. However, someone has to call them together. I think the federal role could be important in that regard. As we said at the outset, everyone is there for the right reasons. However, everyone is entitled to their share and must be able to enjoy a decent standard of living. I would remind you, though, that the unemployment rate among the Mi'kmaq in the community we are talking about is 20%, double the unemployment rate in Nova Scotia. So it's a question of economic development.
Clearly, we have to find a way to manage the resource in a responsible way. According to my experience of working with the Innu, they have as much, if not more, interest in managing the resource as responsibly as everyone else. Clearly, the indigenous people are not going to move. The Mi'kmaq, who have been around for millennia, are not going to deplete the resource and then move away, as is often the case with other fishers. That is what we are seeing all over the place. I feel that it is not really a valid argument to think that the indigenous fishery is going to destroy everyone's way of life, since no one has any interest in doing that.
Nevertheless, a way must be found to overcome this mistrust. People need to have places where they can talk to each other and show that there is responsible management on both sides. In fact, it's not just the Mi'kmaq who need to demonstrate this, it's the commercial fishers as well. Together, they need to define what can and cannot be fished. We cannot do it any other way, in my humble opinion.