Fisheries Committee on March 9th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you for that.

We'll now go to Madam Desbiens for six minutes or less, please

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am extremely grateful to all the witnesses who are here today.

Obviously, I am going to address the people from the Magdalen Islands and the north.

Why does your project deal specifically with grey seals?

[Ruben Komangapik]

We do grey seal because traditionally the harp seal, for us, is dog food.

The grey seal is really a new product. We're very picky. Inuit are very picky about what we eat. Therefore, if these Inuit are willing and welcoming the meat at this level, I'll bet you the rest of the country and the rest of the world will follow.

We should really concentrate on the seal industry in this country, I believe.

[Yoanis Menge]

I can give you another reason. In the Magdalen Islands, grey seals are very abundant. There are 44,000 seals that stay around the islands year-round and a population of 430,000 seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where there were only 5,000 in the 1960s. That is a huge increase and it puts immense pressure on the fish populations. An adult seal eats two tonnes of fish a year and can live for 40 years. This is an abundant resource and it is accessible year-round on the Magdalen Islands.

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

Earlier, there was discussion of the connection between predation and prey, and the idea of balance. Balance is also a concept that applies to food. There is food insecurity in both north and south, for example for northern residents who are living in Ottawa.

Do you need more tools to conduct a larger hunt in order to alleviate this food insecurity in the north and to meet the needs in the south?

[Yoanis Menge]

For the moment, we are focusing on food insecurity among Inuit and their need for access to seals. There is food insecurity everywhere in Canada and the world. There are people everywhere who need food. For the moment, however, we are trying first to respond to the needs of Inuit. Out of a population of 65,000 Inuit, 30% live in the south and we might not see them.

Six thousand Inuit residents have been counted in Ottawa. So there are 6,000 Inuit who live in Ottawa in addition to all of those who are passing through, who come for treatment in hospital, or who may be in prison or living on the street. Those situations especially are what is most visible.

Our project seeks to provide a solution to the problems of access to food, but in a positive way. As I said, this food is not just for the belly, it is also for spirit, body and identity.

So yes, if we can receive more assistance to develop our project, the solutions will be more substantial.

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

Mr. Komangapik, you want to add something. Go ahead.

[Ruben Komangapik]

I'd like to add that it's not just food, it's our culture. Many Inuit who are born in the cities don't have the same knowledge as I do. Therefore, when we bring seal into their lives, they're able to learn about what parts are utilized in different ways, and the names of the body parts. There is also teaching on how to care for the sealskin, and all of the tools that come with utilizing the skin. It keeps the culture alive, even though we're so far away from Nunavut, wherever Inuit are located.

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

You mentioned transmission of know-how.

Since I have some time left, I would like us to realize that your effort is not just a material one, because it meets an imminent, important and urgent need to give Inuit back the very essence of their diet, their culture and their knowledge, but it also brings a promise of reconciliation. The play on words in your company's name is interesting on that point. It carries the promise of international reconciliation.

Can you comment on what I just said?

[Yoanis Menge]

We work on reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, but also between hunters and non-hunters, while taking public opinion into account. We work with people who may not know how the hunt works, how seal is consumed, or how this resource is used. Working together is an opportunity to change and improve that image and show that it is possible to reconcile on every level.

Do you have something to add?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Actually, the time has expired for Madame Desbiens.

We'll go to Ms. Barron now for six minutes or less, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for being here from Inuksiuti.

Do you prefer to be called Mr. Ruben?

[Ruben Komangapik]

I have lots of names, so you can call me anything you want.

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

Through the chair, what is your preferred name?

[Yoanis Menge]

I call him Kiniqtuks.

It means when you stir something and it becomes muddy or cloudy. That's him.

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

I want to provide an opportunity for you to be able to finish your testimony, if you want to pick up where you left off.

[Ruben Komangapik]

Thank you, Lisa.

[Witness spoke in Inuktitut]

[English]

Each of the cultural seal hunters is really awesome in this country, and we should respect all of them, from Newfoundland, the Magdalen Islands and Nunavut, plus the territories and, hopefully, B.C. soon.

Seal meat should be available everywhere in restaurants in Canada and in all the stores. We need the infrastructure. As I said, that is what will bring it.

We need the same support as the Canadian government has for the fishing industry to make the seal hunting industry a success.

What do I think of seal? It shouldn't be demonized. It's a very beautiful creature.

If you really want to reconcile with the Inuit, remember the time when they killed off all of our dogs. I think this will be a nice way, if the federal government can provide seal meat that is caught to the sled dogs in the future. Imagine.

If we take care of this, we talk about real reconciliation. Although Reconseal Inuksiuti is a small player in this industry, we have big ideas for change. We started this company all by ourselves, with our own money. Now we have shown the world what we can do. Now we need help. We need people to show us the way.

Thank you.

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

Qujannamiik.

My recent visit to Nunavut—I brought my daughter up as well—changed so much. It opened my eyes. It was a really positive experience while I was there.

One thing that came up in my conversations in Pangnirtung and Iqaluit was around the impacts of the market, and that there are many people who are under the assumption that due to indigenous rights, indigenous people can harvest. The problem is that without the market to be able to sell the seals and to be able to utilize this renewable resource, many Inuit are left without the means to make a livelihood.

I am wondering if you can speak a bit about how important it is that there is a market in place for Inuit to be able to sell this beautiful natural resource you're talking about.

[Ruben Komangapik]

There is a market. Which country are we in? Canada. We have to educate the rest of our fellow Canadians to show them what seals are really about.

Everybody has been demonizing both the animal and the human conducting the harvesting. We have to start really showing Canada, first and foremost. Because we don't have borders, we can send seal meat from here all the way to B.C. and to everywhere in between, and all the way to Newfoundland from our capital here.

I think the federal government needs to start promoting it—maybe in educational situations, too, and maybe in schools. Start them young. Maybe have a food program in every elementary school in every province and territory.

I think it's not just an Inuit problem. It's a Canadian problem that Canada can actually fix itself, and not look to the outside world for a yes or no, or more stuff like that.

Thank you.

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

Thank you.

[Yoanis Menge]

We often try to export our products outside Canada, to develop markets at the international level. In our country, however, consumers would be prepared to buy seal meat.

If we make the necessary efforts to develop seal products and markets inside Canada itself, we are going to be able to sell our products here, domestically, without being afraid of borders closing later on. We have experienced this with the United States and Europe. Are we going to experience this situation with China soon? Why send products to China when we could be proud of eating our own products right here at home?

People who come to visit Canada might want to try the national product. Canada's product could be seal. I can go to the IGA and find kangaroo meat. Kangaroos are a major problem in Australia. Why could I not find seal meat at the IGA?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you.

We will now go to Mr. Small for five minutes or less.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will be splitting my time with MP Epp.

I have a couple of brief questions for Mr. Lansbergen. I have about two minutes. These will only need quick answers.

To your knowledge, are Norway, Iceland and Japan currently harvesting whales?

[Paul Lansbergen]

I don't know for sure, but Japan certainly is.

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

Are whales subject to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which protects whales in the U.S.?