Evidence of meeting #28 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was science.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Has your department done a comparative analysis of the new and previous monitoring systems to ensure that the new assessments retain the reliability in monitoring?
Liberal
Joanne Thompson Liberal St. John's East, NL
I think this is a question that the officials can address—
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
No, it's a question you should be able to answer, because it's your budget that has these decisions.
Liberal
Joanne Thompson Liberal St. John's East, NL
I am trying to answer you. What I'm saying to you, very clearly, is that science and science management are the backbone of the work we do. That is not changing. We will shift and modernize how we collect science. That is what we need to do to ensure that we have the information we need in order to make decisions.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Can you answer whether you've made those comparative studies I mentioned?
Liberal
Joanne Thompson Liberal St. John's East, NL
As to the specifics on a comparative study, I will have the officials speak to that in the second hour, but I will tell you that when I receive briefings—
Conservative
Conservative
Liberal
Joanne Thompson Liberal St. John's East, NL
I receive briefing notes on a regular basis. We look at comparative data as part of the evaluation. I can reassure you that science is still the backbone.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
You just don't know today, because that's what I asked you.
Minister, there are 7,000 stocks, broken into 427 conservation units of wild Pacific salmon, that require adequate monitoring to be managed. How can Canadians believe that you can manage fisheries sustainability when you're eliminating basic monitoring programs?
Liberal
Joanne Thompson Liberal St. John's East, NL
I want to reassure you that we are not eliminating science and science management from our salmon stocks.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Where do the budget cuts fall, then, in this monitoring?
Liberal
Joanne Thompson Liberal St. John's East, NL
I think there may be a little confusion in terms of budget and what you mean by budget cuts. In terms of what we're seeing happen, the Atlantic fish funds and BCSRIF are examples of funding that—
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
No, we're talking about the entire budget. There are huge cuts in salmon monitoring.
Liberal
Joanne Thompson Liberal St. John's East, NL
There may be a disconnect in what you're saying and what I'm trying to explain to you. There's a series of funding streams coming forward—BCSRIF is one—intended to support the management of fisheries. We will see more of this. I want to reassure you that this is not about cutting the work we're doing.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
We're not getting the answers Canadians are looking for.
Liberal
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Minister, you say you've balanced science in the decision, but you've prioritized cuts to the genomics program at DFO's molecular genetics lab in Nanaimo, which has developed molecular tools now integral to managing risks to protect salmon populations. Why have you made cuts to the genomics program?
Liberal
Joanne Thompson Liberal St. John's East, NL
I'll let the official speak to specifics, but I can tell you that, as I've been saying, the work of science continues. We need to evaluate where we are accessing the information we need, modernizing and shifting—
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
You can't answer why you're cutting the funding for the genomics lab.
Liberal
Conservative
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Minister, I have one more very important question about the west coast. A few months ago, your ministry released its discussion paper on the salmon allocation policy review. The paper contains a proposed removal of the priority public access for chinook and coho salmon, another example in which you're creating a problem where none exists.
Minister, has your ministry completed an economic analysis for the proposed removal of the public fishery access for chinook and coho salmon?