I am informed as follows.
(a) It is routine for the minister of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, DFO, and staff to meet and speak with various members of the fishing community, including lodge operators and the Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia, to discuss stakeholder issues. Former minister, the honourable Brian Tobin, met with sport fish lodge owners on July 12, 1995, to discuss chinook conservation measures and their impacts on lodge operations. Departmental staff are unaware of any other meeting, or conversation which took place during this timeframe relating to the context of the question.
(b) With regard to the July 12, 1995 meeting reported in (a) above, any briefing which took place was verbal information provided by senior departmental officials.
(c) Further to the honourable Brian Tobin's meeting on July 12, 1995, with sport fish lodge owners, the honourable Brian Tobin was informed about the subsequent refusal of lodges to provide catch data on August 17, 1995. Former DFO minister, the honourable Fred Mifflin, received briefing material on June 10, 1996. Departmental records indicated that the honourable David Anderson, at the time minister of revenue and member of parliament for Victoria, was briefed in late July, 1995 regarding the refusal of lodges in the Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C., including Oak Bay Marine Group, to provinde catch data to DFO.
(d) Departmental officials advise that a staff member of former DFO minister the honourable Brian Tobin's office attended one DFO Pacific salmon management teleconference call on May 26, 1995, which discussed proposed chinook salmon conservation measures. Discussions included expected opposition to the measures by Queen Charlotte Island lodge operators including Oak Bay Marine Group. The department is unaware of any DFO minister or his staff members participating in further teleconferences.
(e) Departmental staff provided a response to an anticipated oral question for the House of Commons relating to the referenced subject matter to the honourable David Anderson on September 24, 1997.
(f) Departmental staff and current ministerial staff are unaware of any meeting during the stated timeframe between Ministers or their staff where Oak Bay Marine Group officials made clear their displeasure at being required to provide catch data to DFO.
(g) Yes, the honourable David Anderson did go fishing for 4 hours on August 12, 1997 on a private vessel owned by Martin Dowling of Campbell River, B.C. The members of the party in addition to the minister and Mr. Dowling were Greg McDougall, Gerry Kristianson and Randy Wright, who is the vice-president, operations, of the Oak Bay Marine Group.
All other ministers have no information on this subject.