House of Commons Hansard #77 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Madam Chair, that is an important priority for us and we are working on developing a precautionary principle-based approach to all of our stocks, and many of them have been completed.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Madam Chair, the government has recognized that plastics pose a significant threat to our oceans, as mentioned in the minister's intervention.
Can the minister commit that polystyrene products will be included as pollutants in the oceans protection plan?
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Madam Chair, I did not catch the word that the member was asking about. Which product is it?
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
NDP
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Polystyrene products are part of removing plastic waste from the waters.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Madam Chair, in the wake of the MV Zim Kingston cargo spill last year, we heard countless stories of the government failing to collaborate with indigenous communities and local experts.
Can the government commit that the expanded oceans protection plan will include an integrated and timely response that works in collaboration with these groups?
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Madam Chair, this is a great opportunity for me to congratulate the Canadian Coast Guard and its partners, including indigenous communities, who were part of the very fast and effective response to the Zim Kingston accident.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Madam Chair, owner-operator licencing in the Atlantic means independent harvesters and communities benefit from our fishing industry. However, corporate concentration of processing facilities threatens their ability to get a reasonable price for their catch.
How is the minister working to ensure this budget supports independent harvesters and the communities that rely on them?
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Madam Chair, I am assuming we are talking about the east coast. We have some very clear rules that any of the inshore companies have to be 100% Canadian held and offshore companies need to be 51% Canadian held.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Madam Chair, fish harvesters on the west coast have felt the negative impacts of corporate ownership and anonymous licence holders without a strong owner-operator licencing model.
When will the government ensure that our west coast has a beneficial licence model?
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Madam Chair, we have reviewed the fisheries and oceans committee report on this matter. We are undertaking a study of the beneficial ownership of all of the players on the west coast so that we can analyze that and decide what steps need to be taken.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:05 p.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Madam Chair, last year's flooding in the lower Fraser, and in British Columbia as a whole, could have devastating impacts on already threatened salmon species. When the PSSI's senior director Sarah Murdoch testified to the fisheries and oceans committee, she said that DFO was not looking to reallocate resources from the PSSI to help with salmon habitat restoration in the wake of last year's flooding.
Does the minister agree that this emergency event is worth allocating funding towards?
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Madam Chair, I will agree it was a very concerning event. I am on the cabinet committee on emergencies, and I have had a chance to bring up the concern around fish habitat on a number of occasions. I will continue to have my eye on that ball, and we will need to do restoration.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Madam Chair, how many projects has DFO helped to support in the wake of last year's flooding in British Columbia?
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Madam Chair, the flooding was a huge cost and a huge tragedy. The lead ministries are other ministries, not DFO, but we have been at the table to bring forward our concerns and to check what the impact was on the spawning grounds and hatcheries in that area.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Madam Chair, I believe that answer would be zero, but perhaps the minister can clarify if that is not the case.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Madam Chair, we also had Canadian Coast Guard assets on standby to assist during the flooding.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Madam Chair, does the minister think B.C. will be able to build back better if DFO is not willing to help invest in fish-friendly infrastructure and habitat restoration?
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
May 30th, 2022 / 9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Madam Chair, as I have said, we have $747 million for the Pacific salmon initiative, and we will use that where it will do the most good.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Madam Chair, it has been a year since the PSSI promised to develop a centre of expertise. When will that keystone program be created?
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Madam Chair, we have a five-year program, and piece by piece we are working with partners to make sure we are doing this in a collaborative way.
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Madam Chair, does the minister agree that as the climate crisis becomes more urgent, our programs like the PSSI need to be adaptive and able to respond quickly? Why can the PSSI not be there when salmon need support the most?
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
Liberal
Joyce Murray Liberal Vancouver Quadra, BC
Madam Chair, I could not agree more with the member that we need to factor climate change into everything we do on the coast. That is why nature-based solutions are so important, and I think ocean source solutions—
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
NDP
Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
9:10 p.m.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Madam Chair, Watershed Watch and SkeenaWild recently published a report estimating that last year Alaskan fishers caught an estimated 650,000 B.C.-bound sockeye salmon while Canadian fishers caught as few as 110,000.
Does the minister agree that first nations, commercial fishers and recreational fishers should be forced to keep their boats at dock while so many B.C.-bound fish are being caught in Alaska?
