Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the Oceans Act and the Fisheries Act, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard is responsible for the proper management and control of fisheries, and the conservation and protection of fish and fish habitat. To carry out this broad mandate, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, DFO, supports its minister through co-operation in regional fisheries management organizations such as the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.
Under the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development Act, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the conduct of diplomatic and consular relations on behalf of Canada, which includes providing legal advice to DFO on international law questions and coordinating Canada’s treaty adoption process from the negotiating mandate to the entry into force including with respect to fisheries and fisheries management.
In response to parts (i) to (iv) of the question, Global Affairs Canada does not have a central information management system that systematically captures when and if the current and former ministers of Foreign Affairs introduced or discussed topics related to fisheries and fisheries management during meetings conducted on international trips.
After a manual search of records since November 4, 2015, Global Affairs Canada officials provided briefing materials specific to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on fish or fisheries management for 35 international trips. Further validating the specific instances during these trips in which fisheries and fisheries management were introduced or discussed is not possible within the time provided for a response without risking the disclosure of information that is inaccurate or misleading, or would be injurious to the conduct of Canada’s international affairs.