Evidence of meeting #110 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was work.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Liberal
Diane Lebouthillier Liberal Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
Yes, I did meet with the French ambassador. In 2025, there will be a meeting on the oceans—
Liberal
Diane Lebouthillier Liberal Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
I couldn't tell you off the top of my head. For me, the important thing was to add seals to the list of species—
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
That's fine, Minister.
Who's your counterpart in the United States' federal cabinet?
Liberal
Diane Lebouthillier Liberal Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
If you want a name, I can't give you one, but I don't know how that would get us anywhere in the fisheries sector right now. I've met with the U.S. ambassador and the Japanese ambassador, but if you ask me for their names, I surely can't tell you off the top of my head.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
How many times have you met with your American counterpart, and who is your point of contact?
Liberal
Diane Lebouthillier Liberal Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
I couldn't tell you, but how would that get us anywhere with the fisheries?
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
You are the key point for Canadian fisheries, and we are hearing from coast to coast to coast about issues that require international co-operation. If you haven't met your American counterpart or don't even recall their name, we have to question why you aren't doing your job.
Minister, I'm going to change topics slightly.
Of the $4.7 billion proposed for DFO in the main estimates for this year, how many dollars will support commercial fishing licence and quota reform in British Columbia, which this committee has repeatedly recommended changes to?
Liberal
Diane Lebouthillier Liberal Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
Are you asking me about the next budget? We would need to adopt the budget, but you want to vote against it.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
This should be in the main estimates. There's $4.7 billion proposed in this budget. How much of that is aimed to support commercial fishing licence and quota reform in British Columbia?
If you don't have it right now, we can wait for it in writing. My time is limited.
Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I can respond.
The funding for the moment...the activity we're doing, as the minister said, is consultation. We've heard, and certainly had reports of the committee—
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Just how much is it? We're talking about the main estimates.
Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
That would be the operational budgets—
Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
—and the staff who work on these issues.
Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
They would be people who are doing a lot of different fisheries activities.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
How much is targeted, if anything? Thank you. If you can, provide that in writing.
I'll move on now, Minister.
When it comes to DFO science, are you aware of the 2023 report from the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development that examined the department's monitoring of marine fisheries catch?
Liberal
Diane Lebouthillier Liberal Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
In the meetings I had with the various associations, people spoke to me about global warming and the concerns those in the fishing industry have about forage species, be it herring, mackerel, capelin, smelt—
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Excuse me. This was the commissioner's report on monitoring fisheries catch. It's the report on monitoring fisheries catch—not climate change or anything else.
Are you familiar with that report?
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Okay. Thank you.
In that report, the commissioner made it clear that your department continues to fail to monitor fisheries catch, and this causes a data gap for DFO science processes.
Your own response to the committee's pinniped report states that there are science gaps for pinniped management. I cannot recall a single witness—indigenous or non-indigenous, who was not a DFO official—who told this committee that DFO has adequate science.
Minister, you previously told this committee that since coming to power, the government has rebuilt confidence in the science.
Can you tell us who, outside of DFO, has confidence in DFO science?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
I'm going to have to ask for that to come in writing, Mr. Arnold, as we've gone over time.
We'll now go to Mr. Cormier, who is online, for five minutes, please.
Liberal
Serge Cormier Liberal Acadie—Bathurst, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome, Madam Minister.
I must say that I almost fell off my chair earlier when I heard the Conservatives talk about small craft harbours, since we were so neglected when they were in government. Perhaps that's why the needs in our regions are much more pressing than theirs.
The federal budget includes $463 million for small craft harbours. The Conservatives will oppose this budget, and the Bloc Québécois will also vote against these investments in small craft harbours.
Can you tell me what else we'll be able to do with the investments? As you know, we will clearly need to do some dredging and repairs to ensure fisher safety and that we don't have any more fatalities in certain regions. What's the government's vision for these investments to help fishers in our region?