Fisheries Committee on March 9th, 2023

[Paul Lansbergen]

I believe so, yes.

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

Have we seen any sanctions levied against seafood entering the U.S. from any of the countries hunting whales, because of their whale harvest? Have you had any knowledge of that in your travels in the markets?

[Paul Lansbergen]

I don't have any information on that. I'm sorry.

It's a good question, though.

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

Yes, I figured you might have some knowledge about that.

I don't think there has been any sanctioning of these countries for hunting whales, seals, puffins or whatever. How real can the threat of sanctions be, against our seafood, when other NAFO countries are hunting whales and not being sanctioned?

[Paul Lansbergen]

One important distinction would be this: The intent is to protect marine mammals while you're harvesting other fish and seafood, for example, or conducting other marine activities. If we can clearly articulate that, as we harvest fish and seafood, we're not harming other marine mammals in the process, we will still be in line with the MMPA. In that sense, we should be insulated, but it all depends on the interpretation by the Americans.

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

Do you think that same policy would apply to Iceland, Norway and Japan, in the same sense as it does to Canada?

[Paul Lansbergen]

I assume so.

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

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Lansbergen.

Thanks to all the other witnesses.

I will turn my time over to Mr. Epp, now.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I would like to move the following motion, which Mr. Bragdon did, earlier this week:

That, given the factual inaccuracy provided by Mr. Richard Goodyear, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, in his testimony to the committee on December 2, 2022, and raised in correspondence to the committee dated December 14, 2022, from Mr. Gregory McClinchey, Policy and Legislative Affairs Director of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission; and that considering the harm done to Canada's relationship with the United States through Canada's continued lack of fiscal accountability toward the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the numerous bi-lateral initiatives that would be jeopardized by the termination of the Great Lakes Fisheries Convention, that the committee report to the House on this inaccuracy, and recall Mr. Goodyear to committee to rectify his testimony.

May I suggest, Mr. Chair, that the official, Mr. Goodyear, be scheduled to appear in the second hour, when the minister is scheduled to appear later this month, I believe?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Mr. Morrissey.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Mr. Chair, is the motion valid to be debated at the current time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

We're in committee business, so yes. There was a notice that went to everyone earlier, so it's within the timeline.

Is there any further discussion on the motion?

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Mr. Chair, I would like to suspend.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

We can suspend for a few minutes. We have six minutes left in the meeting time, so we'll give you some time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Madame Desbiens, did you want to say something?

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I simply wanted to let all my colleagues around the table know that we are in the process of doing a study. We have had witnesses travel here from very far away. We also have experts present via Zoom. Our committee's time for the study is precious. I oppose this process, which is taking up all the committee's time.

I think this kind of thing should be planned in the calendar or some other way, but I strongly suggest it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Fine.

Mr. Morrissey.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

I agree with Madame Desbiens. It is valid. I cannot comment on the term given the factual inaccuracy that's subject to discussion, but we have witnesses here who we should be dealing with, and this could be brought up at another time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Mr. Epp, you have your hand up.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Yes. The factual inaccuracy has been substantiated by the commission, not by any other portion. It's related to the testimony that was provided as to the status of the Great Lakes fishery budget for the 2023 season.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

That's valid.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Right, and the purpose of bringing this up at this time was simply for the efficient operation of the committee, for when the officials are coming at the end of the month. That's the reason for the timing.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Ms. Barron.

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

I want to reiterate that, moving forward, I would really love for us to be able to work collaboratively when there's something like this that needs to come forward that's timely. We should have a discussion around how we want to redistribute our time to ensure that those who speak and ask questions at the end are not inadvertently impacted as a result.

I do appreciate that this is important and needs to come forward. I'm not arguing that, but this could have been done differently, so that's a little disappointing. I appreciate the information, and I will vote when it comes up.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

We'll call for a vote.

(Motion agreed to)

I want to say a big thank you to our witnesses for appearing today, especially the Reconseal group. To listen to you, it's amazing what you're trying to do. I wish you nothing but success.

I want to say a big thank you to Mr. Lansbergen and Mr. McAllister who joined by Zoom. We are sorry for the interruption we had, but that's part of committee business. It can happen at any time.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

Everybody, enjoy the rest of of your day.

The meeting is adjourned.