International Trade Committee on Nov. 26th, 2013

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

The ownership of the resource, of the fish?

[Peter Connors]

Yes, and the licences per se, like owner-operator and the—

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Are you worried there would be no demand for your product?

[Peter Connors]

I'm not worried that there'd be no demand for our product, but I'm worried that big money.... As lucrative as the fishery is, I still don't represent anybody with enough equity to buy a two-million-dollar crab licence. When that licence goes for sale, it'll be somebody who has access—

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Somebody who can afford it.

[Peter Connors]

Somebody who can afford it, and they'll buy it.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

And dominate the market.

[Peter Connors]

Yes, that's right, and they can monopolize it that way.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

You were alluding to something else called “marketing capacity”. You said that when the fish species being caught are changed, you didn't have a marketing capacity to change your strategy for that.

Did I understand that correctly?

[Peter Connors]

I'm sorry? What did you say?

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

At one point, you said that you didn't have enough marketing capacity when your fish species were being caught and changed. I assume that if you're catching lobster, and then you turn around and catch another species, you have to change your marketing strategy.

[Peter Connors]

No. What I was alluding to there is that we're catching twice as many lobsters, but they're blaming recessions and a lack of markets for the poor price we're receiving, compared to what we got years ago. More access to more markets, and maybe even a different way of marketing, might bypass some of the bottlenecks that might be there now.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

How would you access the additional markets? You would need capital, would you not? You would need more money.

[Peter Connors]

That's right.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Where would you get that money?

[Peter Connors]

That's the question.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Would you be looking for more help from the government?

[Peter Connors]

Well, that's an open question right now.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

All right. That's fine.

I want to ask one more question.

Mr. Staples, you talked about perishable products. Are there any other types of products you can store or ship, or that there's a demand for overnight?

[Jerry Staples]

I guess I'm talking about perishable products, about products moving eastbound to Europe. The planes need full flights in both directions. If you look at products that are being brought in to North America, in particular to Boston and New York airports, and some of their competitive disadvantages to Halifax, bringing those back through Halifax and moving them into the major markets on the eastern seaboard....

There's also an environmental advantage—

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

I'm just talking about marketing risk.

Let's say the perishable products are coming from Nova Scotia—and they would probably be fish products—and there was a decrease in demand for fish products, would you be able to expand your revenue base to other types of products?

[Jerry Staples]

It's heavily dependent on fish at this point, but there are other fresh products such as blueberries that go fresh to market.

[Massimo Pacetti, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

So there's potential to expand.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Mr. Shory, the floor is yours.

[Devinder Shory, Conservative, Calgary Northeast, AB]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to all of the witnesses for appearing before the committee this afternoon.

Mr. Connors, I'm sure you appreciate the opportunity to express your views and concerns in front of this committee. The committee members are really thankful to you for coming to share your views and concerns with the committee as well.

Mr. Staples, as the Stanfield International Airport is the closest international airport link between North America and the European Union, it is placed in a way to play a major role.

When the Canada-EU trade deal begins to generate more air cargo requirements, storage requirements, and other logistical needs, what plans does the Halifax airport authority have in place to deal with this increased demand on your facilities?