Bernadette Jordan

[Business of Supply, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Chair, with regard to the Big Bar landslide, we have made significant progress but know that more has to be done. We are currently in the process of building a natural fish passageway. That is one of the things that has to be done to make sure we address the concerns in the Fraser River with regard to the slide.

We have been taking a multi-level government approach to this. We have the province behind us, we have worked with indigenous communities in the area and we are going to continue to do everything we possibly can to address this concern.

[Business of Supply, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Chair, in 2019, the department implemented a substantial new fishery closure in southern British Columbia. This measure included a 42-day closure for all commercial nets, including gillnets, and a 27-day closure for the first nations food, social and ceremonial fisheries, including gillnets within the Fraser River. These decisions were taken as a precautionary approach, given the uncertain information. We were informed by consultations with all interested parties.

We know a lot more needs to be done to protect our wild Pacific salmon. We are going to continue to do that hard work to ensure we protect this stock.

[Business of Supply, November 24th, 2020]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his intervention and his speech. It was very good.

I will say our government has invested significantly in not only the B.C. salmon program, which we run in collaboration with the Province of British Columbia to restore habitat, but also the Big Bar landslide. This has been a significant investment for our government.

The landslide, which happened in July of last year, actually blocked the Fraser River salmon. We needed to make sure we did everything possible to address those concerns. Over $20 million has been invested to date to try to make sure that we see those stocks returning in the Fraser River.

We are going to continue to work in collaboration with first nations and the province to make sure that we are addressing the habitat restoration that needs to be done in coastal British Columbia. We know that is an integral part of making sure that we rebuild the salmon stocks. We are going to work with the provinces to make sure we do that.

[Business of Supply, November 24th, 2020]

Madam Chair, it is important to note that an interim report is due at the end of December, but the final report is not due until March. Mr. Surette has been working on this for a while now. He has already had a number of meetings with commercial harvesters and with stakeholders. We have regular updates from him. I know that it is important that we get an interim report from him in December, and he is going to continue to do the work he needs to do in order for us to move this forward.

[Business of Supply, November 24th, 2020]

Madam Chair, with respect to Mr. Surette, what I said was that a number of ministry representatives wanted to see someone they could talk to outside of DFO. That is what we have put in place with Mr. Surette. He is, as the member for West Nova knows, a very well-respected member of the community. He is someone who has a knowledge of fisheries issues and he will be a valuable asset to us as we move this file forward.

[Business of Supply, November 24th, 2020]

Madam Chair, with respect to the definition of “moderate livelihood”, that is not something the Government of Canada is going to impose on first nations. That is determined by the first nations communities. Every community looks at this differently. We want to ensure we work with them in the negotiation process to address what a moderate livelihood is to them.

The last thing a first nations community wants is the Government of Canada dictating to it what it think a moderate livelihood should be.

[Business of Supply, November 24th, 2020]

Madam Chair, I do not order C&P officers to do their job. They are law enforcement officers who work outside of the minister. I do not direct them in any way, shape or form. They are professionals who know what their job is and they do it well.

[Business of Supply, November 24th, 2020]

Madam Chair, as my hon. colleague well knows, I cannot comment on ongoing investigations into anything. That would be inappropriate, and I will leave it at that.

[Business of Supply, November 24th, 2020]

Madam Chair, if a lobster trap does not meet requirements, it will be seized by CMP. There are specific requirements for all traps in order to make sure they have things like the right escape hatches. Those are all things the CMP officers will be looking for as they are looking at traps.

[Business of Supply, November 24th, 2020]

Madam Chair, I will say to the hon. member I do not have that information in front of me. I know that CMP was on the water on the weekend. I know there were traps pulled, but I do not have the exact numbers.