Fisheries Committee on Feb. 2nd, 2026

[Kaili Levesque]

Yes, indeed—indigenous, rural, remote and inland.

[The Chair, Liberal, Patrick Weiler]

Thank you very much, Mr. Morrissey.

We have enough time for a short third round. We're going to do three minutes, three minutes and two minutes, starting with Mr. Arnold for three minutes.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, in your opening remarks, you basically opened this meeting up to any questions. One of the questions that have come up is regarding New Brunswick, or the Bay of Fundy area recently. Are you familiar with what a living gene bank is?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Yes.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC]

Are you aware that your government's funding cuts will result in the closure of gene banks that have been identified as key components of the recovery of wild Atlantic salmon?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Yes. I can say that we remain committed to protecting species, and at the same time, we need to look at new opportunities and investments that align with sustainability.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC]

New opportunities don't come often with a gene bank like that. There are barely 100 wild Atlantic salmon returning in the Bay of Fundy streams. These living gene banks are absolutely crucial to retaining living genes so that the stocks can be restored, yet your government's actions are going to result in closures. Can you explain that and square that circle?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

I won't speak to that specifically, but I will say that we—

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC]

Speak to that specifically, because you should know. You're the minister who has the ultimate decision over the closing of this gene bank.

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

I am committed to working with all partners to protect Atlantic salmon stocks. I know that's incredibly important; it is a priority. We will continue to look at ways we can focus on that to ensure we have strong returns.

I realize that this is incredibly important work. it's work that we need to do and I'm committed to it.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC]

On the west coast, we have recreational, commercial and indigenous harvesters who are basically saying that your government has failed for the last 10 years at restoring fisheries and fishing opportunities. The infrastructure systems that provide for those fisheries are on their last breaths because of consistent closures by your government and further restrictions. More of those restrictions may be on the way and have been indicated by your department through the proposals for coastal protection.

The harvesters, the industry and the entire sector that relies on access to those recreational, commercial and indigenous fisheries are at risk. How are you going to address that in your budget?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

What I can tell you specific to the west coast is that we just finished a round of consultations on January 23. We are now looking at that. Certainly, no decision has been made. Once a decision is made, I will share it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Patrick Weiler]

Thank you very much, Mr. Arnold.

Next we're going to Mr. Connors for three minutes.

[Paul Connors, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Thank you.

Minister and Deputy Minister, you mentioned modernization a number of times when you were talking about the divestiture of the FFMC. Can you elaborate on the definition of that and how it will be of benefit to the freshwater fishers to modernize the corporation?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

At a very high level, the reality that so many harvesters are no longer working with the FFMC is an indication that a need in the regions is not being met, so they needed to look at the entire process. Those were the consultation processes that led to the divestiture, which were incredibly important.

Deputy, I don't know if there's anything else you want to add.

[Kaili Levesque]

As noted, it was created in 1969. Imagine you've created a single desk, basically, where the buying, the selling and the market opportunities are being created, the idea being that inland fisheries individually are not as scaled, perhaps, as the honourable member mentioned, as on the east coast, where you have larger access in some areas versus many small lakes for which you need to think about how to bring in a scaling of the economy and access to a number of fish.

There was a moving away from that single seller model as provinces moved away from the model of the FFMC because of favouring the open market, the idea being that a preferred bidder here will look at the structures and opportunities available through the ongoing negotiation process and put forward a corporation or an entity that will include inland fishers and create opportunities for them to engage so they want to sell into those channels to maximize the value of their efforts on the water.

[Paul Connors, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

I think you said Alberta was still part of the corporation, and I'm guessing not 100% of the fishermen have withdrawn. How will the divestiture affect, say, Alberta and the fishers who are remaining there? How will it affect them?

[Kaili Levesque]

While Alberta has not formally withdrawn from the agreement, it has not been an active participant in the FFMC since 2014, so at this point, the impacts would be minimal in terms of existing structures, as harvesters and fishers have gone elsewhere. Looking forward, it would perhaps create ongoing increased market opportunities through the right engagement if the preferred bidder is successful in the process.

[The Chair, Liberal, Patrick Weiler]

Thank you very much, Mr. Connors.

We will finish up with Mr. Deschênes for two minutes.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, I have a couple of questions about enforcement.

We held a number of meetings on the subject in December. A fisheries officer from the maritimes, Trevor Lushington, had attended a previous meeting. During his testimony, I asked him if he felt free to testify. He seemed very ill at ease and revealed that a parliamentary affairs employee from your department allegedly told him over the phone that before he came to testify, he should remember that it's hard to pay the bills without a paycheque.

Do you find that acceptable?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

I support the work the enforcement officers do. Whenever I'm in a region, if enforcement works in that area, I meet with them directly. I have an open dialogue with them. They need to have their work supported by all parties and all involved. It is an important job. It enables the fisheries to move forward in a safe manner.

While I can't speak to that specific instance, I can tell you that the changes made since I became minister were intended to create spaces for communication within the department and within the members' roles.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

I say this with all due respect, Minister, but you're not answering my question.

You say you respect fisheries officers. One of them came to testify here and was petrified at the idea of testifying next to his boss. He said that one of your employees had asked him…. In any case, he felt intimidated. That's what he said in his testimony.

What do you say about that? Do you find that acceptable? Have you taken steps to ensure that this doesn't happen again?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

While I don't directly interfere in day-to-day work, I obviously sit at the level of being able to help set policies and ensure processes are in place so that all workers feel they have the space to speak their truth within their departments and express concerns. That is very important to me.

If the deputy would like to add anything, she can, but as much as I continue to say that I believe in consultation processes, I also believe that the work the officers do needs to be respected, and they need to be able to express concerns without feeling harm.

Deputy, if there's anything—

[The Chair, Liberal, Patrick Weiler]

I'm afraid we're out of time. I hate to interrupt.

Ms. Levesque, if you'd like to add anything more in writing, please do that.

That ends the first panel. I want to thank the minister for taking the time to meet with us today.

We're now going to suspend for a few minutes to allow the minister to depart, and we'll continue with questions for the officials in the second hour.

[The Chair, Liberal, Patrick Weiler]

Colleagues, I call the meeting back to order.

Welcome back, Ms. Levesque.

I'll welcome our new witnesses to the table. We have Niall O'Dea, senior assistant deputy minister of strategic policy; Jennifer Saxe, assistant deputy minister, aquatic ecosystems; Patrick Amyot, chief financial officer; Todd Williams, senior director, resource management operations; and Doug Wentzell, regional director general, Maritimes region.

With that, we are going to jump directly into the first round of questioning, starting with Mr. Arnold for six minutes.