Fisheries Committee on Feb. 29th, 2024

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Mel Arnold]

Could the clerk or the analysts read back where we are, then, with the meetings? Could one of the members...? I'm just asking for someone to clarify.

Madame Desbiens, do you have something?

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

I have nothing against discussing the fisheries crisis with the minister. However, this should not detract from my notice of motion option from earlier, which could be added later before giving instructions for drafting the letter. My motion is important too. So we could put it after that, complete the whole thing and move on to something else, on our regular schedule afterwards.

So I'd be happy to talk to the minister for a few minutes about the shrimp and redfish crisis.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Mel Arnold]

Mr. Perkins, are you clear on that?

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

If Madame Desbiens wants to move a motion after we're done mine, that's fine.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Mel Arnold]

We have to get through one motion. Is your motion being amended or not?

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I can't amend it.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Mel Arnold]

No.

Go ahead, Ms. Barron.

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

I'm just curious if we feel it would increase the likelihood of the minister coming if we amended the motion. Otherwise, I don't know if it's worth it. If the minister is not going to come, then the minister is not going to come.

I could amend the motion, and we could keep amending, if it's the will of the committee for us to amend the motion and to put it out to the minister to see if she's able to come on the issues. I think it would be great to get some answers to what's happening around the redfish at the same time. I'd be happy to move the motion for us to have the one hour with the minister to talk both about the situation with the elvers and with the redfish.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Mel Arnold]

Is it the will of the committee to pass the motion as it was originally submitted, to see what the clerk can do with that and to see what the minister can do with that?

I see nodding heads around the room. All in favour and none opposed?

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

The motion is carried.

We have less than a minute left.

At the previous meeting, while I was not in the chair, I suggested that we at least get moving on with the submission of drafting instructions for the IUU study. I don't know what the committee feels at this point about whether we can get that done so that the analysts could work on it during four out of the next five weeks that we're not going to be here.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

We'll spend the time on the first version anyway.

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

They should get our input before they start writing.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

I don't feel comfortable with that.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

No. Chair, this was an extremely important, in-depth study.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Chair, Brian Mulroney died.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Oh, really? Oh, no. I'm sorry to hear that.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Chair, I don't think we have time to deal with this.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Mel Arnold]

I take it there's not consensus around the room to submit drafting instructions, but we could certainly plan towards that in our next two weeks back. We can perhaps plan at the beginning of the meeting, when we come back in two weeks, to make sure we get it done. Otherwise, we may not see that report by June.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Chair, I would agree with you that maybe there's consensus at the committee. If you could rephrase, then we could agree with it.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Mel Arnold]

If everyone agrees, we can see if we can start early or can extend late, but the first order of business at the next meeting is drafting instructions.

Is everyone agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Mel Arnold]

Mr. Small, go ahead, quickly, before we have to adjourn.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Chair, I don't see why we can't have our recommendations in to the analysts by Friday. We've been sitting on this witness testimony for a month. The analysts are going to have a two-week break now, and then a two-week break afterward. I'm not saying the analysts are going to have a break and not work at all, but it's a good opportunity for the analysts to move some of this work out of the way and to not have everything piled on, with all the demands on translation that we've seen.

Can the committee agree, if we have our recommendations in, that the analysts can then come out with some kind of a version based on what we get in to them by the coming Friday or next Friday?

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Mel Arnold]

I've just been told by the clerk that we have a hard stop at six o'clock. We're past that now, so I'm going to have to adjourn.

The meeting is adjourned.