Fisheries Committee on April 27th, 2023

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

Great. Thank you.

I have a quick question for Mr. Zeman.

Mr. Zeman, I believe you have mentioned the CSAS process, and I'm wondering, if you did, if you can speak a little bit as to how the CSAS process has impacted management decisions around pinniped harvesting.

[Jesse Zeman]

I think that steelhead is just an observation that the process is broken and that there is bureaucratic interference happening in the world of science, and that is not good for any of us. It doesn't matter if they are fish, seals or sturgeon. It matters that the right information is getting out to the right people so they can make the right decision.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Ms. Barron.

I'm going to allow Mr. Calkins to ask a question instead of having him here playing with his phone.

Mr. Calkins, you're up for a couple of minutes, and the clock is ticking. I feel generous.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

I did ask a question that didn't get answered, so I would re-pose the question to the B.C. Wildlife Federation about when governments are afraid to manage an entire tier of the ecosystem, such as what happens with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and now we see grizzly bears and other apex predators in provinces such as British Columbia where ministers, during their announcements, say that the decision has nothing to do with science and has everything to do with emotion.

What will the long-term consequences to the rest of the food chain look like, including any negative human-wildlife conflicts that are bound to arise?

[Jesse Zeman]

That's kind of the same as the last question.

In our world of sustainability and conservation, science is what guides us. We have experienced the same thing federally related to wolves and caribou as we have with grizzly bears.

I refrain from speaking on behalf of first nations, but I can tell you that, in British Columbia, the values of a number of partners and nations we've worked with related to wildlife management and conservation align completely with ours. I'll echo in small part what Murray and Jen said about the world of reconciliation. These values quite often are shared, and elected officials are not listening.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Calkins.

I want to say a big thank you, of course, to our witnesses for this second hour of testimony—Mr. Zeman, Mr. Ned-Kwilosintun, and, of course, Ms. Shears—for sharing their knowledge with us this afternoon.

Thanks to Ms. Shears for appearing in person. It's always nice to have people in the flesh, so to speak, so that we can get their expressions and they can see exactly how the committee operates.

I will let the committee know that on Monday we will have our eighth and final meeting with witnesses for the pinniped study next week, which, of course, is May. On Thursday we will provide drafting instructions to the analysts for the report on pinnipeds and discuss committee business. That will be next Thursday, so keep that in mind if you have anything to raise during committee business. We'll also have drafting instructions for this particular study.

Again, everybody, enjoy your weekend.

Go ahead, Madam Desbiens.

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

Excuse me, Mr. Chair. I just need 30 seconds of your time. I just wanted to say that I really like the way this committee works. It runs smoothly, and we always get our two and a half minutes at the end.

I also appreciate my colleagues. Often, we often talk about things that are not working, but I think we need to talk about the things that are working too. I just wanted to acknowledge that.

I also want to thank our interpreters.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you for that.

This meeting is adjourned.