Fisheries Committee on Oct. 28th, 2022

[Marc Mes]

It's been a long two and a half years with COVID. I'll be very honest with you.

If we look at, for instance, all of the icebreakers in the Arctic this season, we were able to man them all. Right now, we have sufficient crew to man our vessels on the east, west or anything that goes up into the Arctic. We have COVID and we manage with COVID. We also then, of course, have to manage with the global industry's demand and need for engineers and specific expertise.

That's the reason we focus so much on the college. We'll be having some very large graduating classes in the next couple of years that are going to really help us in identifying and filling some of these spots that we need, but also to be able to replace those who are retiring in the coming years.

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

Thank you.

I ask all of these questions, because they're so interconnected with our capacity to respond and protect the North Atlantic right whale, and of course to ensure that livelihoods and fisheries are maintained.

I had a quick question. We talked about what I believe you called the midshore vessels that were being constructed. You talked about the shipyards that they were being built in. Do we know if these shipyards are in Canada or elsewhere, or where they're going to be built?

[Robert Wight]

Yes. They will be in Canada. Under the “build in Canada” policy, all of the ships the Coast Guard builds will be built at Canadian shipyards. We know for the midshore multi-mission vessels, which will not be built at the big yards that are doing the big ships, there is strong interest among a number of players to ensure a competitive environment for those ships being built.

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

Thank you for clarifying.

Could you clarify? When a whale, say a north Atlantic right whale, is tangled or in distress, what is your role? What does that process look like from the moment that a call comes out?

[Marc Mes]

If a call comes out, first of all we will be issuing a navigational warning to mariners to say there is a whale in distress, and hopefully tracking that whale and updating that notification to mariners as we move forward. The Department of Fisheries, of course, gets very involved and is looking at ways, working with industry and its experts, to, hopefully, disentangle the whales from the gear they have been caught up in.

I know that over the last couple of years the department has been successful in removing some gear from whales.

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

For my last question I think I might have just enough time. Have you been seeing an increase in ghost gear out on the waters, by chance, in the last few years?

[Marc Mes]

You know, that's a really good question. There is ghost gear. We're seeing it, but I don't know whether or not there's any more or any less than what we'd normally see. Unfortunately, that ghost gear also gets caught up in some of our gear and some of our propellers. These are things we have to be somewhat aware of, but, yes, it is out there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Ms. Barron. You've saved me 15 seconds.

We'll now go to Mr. Arnold, who will probably use those 15 seconds on top of his five minutes.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the time.

Thank you to the Coast Guard for the work you do in keeping mariners and harvesters safe. We all appreciate it very much.

Mr. Mes, I believe in your opening comments you mentioned that your vessels are mission-ready 24-7. Is that an actual goal, an aspiration or an actuality?

[Marc Mes]

It is an actuality. Our vessels are 24-7. Some of our vessels are out 28 days straight. They come back, change crew and go right back out again.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

I would beg to differ, having visited a vessel this summer. It was in dock because it had engine problems and was not able to place buoys. Could you provide the committee with a list of all Canadian Coast Guard vessels, by vessel type and vessel readiness, over the past five years, so that we can identify how many were disabled for mechanical or other reasons?

[Marc Mes]

Absolutely. There aren't just vessels that, for instance, have been disabled. Others have vessel life extensions. Others have planned maintenance. Vessels have to have planned maintenance. We do that every year on every single vessel. There is a period of time during the year to maintain these vessels. Otherwise, we would not have a fleet in the coming years. It is very organized through the fleet operational plan. There are specific times for every single vessel to go through its maintenance. That doesn't mean we don't have breakdowns.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you. That would be, I think, beneficial for the committee.

On another topic, does the Canadian Coast Guard contact or communicate with the U.S. Coast Guard to discuss and compare enforcement of right whale measures on both sides of the border? Does the Canadian Coast Guard receive notification from U.S. authorities when the U.S. is doing surveillance overflights of right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence?

[Marc Mes]

The relationship with the U.S. Coast Guard is a very long-standing one. There is a summit that happens every year between Canada and the U.S., with the commandant and the commissioner. There is engagement at all levels, including operational levels such as search and rescue and environmental response.

Specific to the right whales—and I think that was your question—I suspect...but I will get back to this committee with regard to whether information on surveillance overflights is shared on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. That's information I don't necessarily have at this moment.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you. I would appreciate it if you could share that information with us and share what information is communicated, especially when it comes to the U.S. doing overflights in Canadian waters.

With regard to the enforcement, some of my colleagues here have mentioned the enforcement of mandatory speed restrictions and so on. An electronic vessel monitoring system is used to look for infractions. We've heard about how, in other parts of the world, vessels will simply turn off their transponders—I believe—or transmitters and go dark. How much confidence do you have that you would be able to monitor these vessels appropriately should they choose to go dark and disappear off the electronic system?

[Marc Mes]

You know, I don't think it's as high as people think with regard to dark vessels in this area. It doesn't mean that it doesn't happen, but those are really for nefarious things they are going to do. I suspect that if we have vessels that are transiting from a trade perspective, from a commerce perspective or from a pleasure perspective, they're not going to necessarily turn off their AIS.

We also monitor through satellite. It's not just AIS. We can track vessels through various means. We have AIS transponders, we have satellite and we have other means that we're able to track with, as well as regular check-in points from radio contacts so that we have a sense of where that vessel is. Within our marine communication traffic services centres, they also have predictability with regard to where those vessels may end up. All of this is in the process to at least try to manage the vessel traffic in the area.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

I would like to get one more quick question in before the time runs out.

We've heard a lot today about tracking vessels. You've mentioned that you have a whale desk set up to provide information to mariners as to the location of vessels.

What work has the Coast Guard done with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on actually tracking whales through transmitters, satellite transponders or anything like that?

[Marc Mes]

It's a very good question.

If the marine communication traffic services centres are linked in with the DFO science.... It's again something, Chair, that I will have to get back to this committee on with regard to whether or not they are engaged in sharing that kind of information. I can at least let you know, but from an active perspective, we have what we call “observe, record and report” on any of our Coast Guard vessels. That information on any sort of whale or mammal sightings automatically goes into our regional operations centres. That's then disseminated, so that's also included in any sort of maritime domain awareness, particularly as it's related to the whales.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Arnold.

We will now go to Mr. Cormier for five minutes or less, please.

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Thank you.

Just to go back to my last question that I didn't have a chance to finish, I want to clarify this, Mr. Mes or Mr. Wright. I think you said that the planning or the design will be 2023-24 for the new vessel. Again, when can we see the first vessel in operation? I know it's hard for you to say, but just an approximate date.... What will be the time that we can have this vessel in operation?

[Robert Wight]

The plan right now is to see those vessels in the late 2020s. By “late 2020s”, I would mean that 2028-29 is the current schedule when we hope to see those vessels.

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Okay.

[Robert Wight]

Also, to answer your previous question about draft, the design draft that we have right now on those is 3.65 metres internally. We will see how industry can do with that, but that's the type of draft we're looking at for these vessels.

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Okay. That's perfect. That was my second question—about the depth—and you answered it.

For the thickness of the ice, will those vessels be able to break more than 16 inches or 40 centimetres of ice? Is that what you said?

[Robert Wight]

They're right now being designed to break a minimum of 40 centimetres of ice—