Fisheries committee  We're really touching on two issues here. One I have to point out is that the sockeye, about every two out of four years, is a recreational opportunity. When the commercial fisheries open, recreational fisheries can retain sockeye, but it's not a driving force in most years and i

Fisheries committee  Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, thank you very much. I think you are addressing a very important topic for west coast Canada and across Canada. I said in the text that I provided to you that I think you're talking about something that we consider “fabric of lif

Environment committee  That's a great question, James, because we had 10 years of debate within the department and brought in experts on the science. We brought out three drafts of the policy. I think the mechanism here was that people put into words what they were trying to accomplish and then put it

Environment committee  You're right in that we don't understand all the complexities, but we do know enough about how to start defining the ecological zones of Canada's coastal waters, and we do know what we need to measure to monitor for climate change. We can address Canada's oceans. I would refer

Environment committee  When I refer to a strong scientific basis, I'm referring to things like a quantitative basis that we can apply repeatedly across the landscape in defining and monitoring ecosystems, so we can determine the status through time. Monitoring allows us to learn and adapt over time. Wi

Environment committee  Yes—three loaded questions in seven minutes.

Environment committee  You get the pipeline, yes. Is the variation in Pacific salmon populations natural? Absolutely. Does it explain all of the fluctuations? Absolutely not. There are local environmental effects. There can be long-standing effects due to overfishing that we're still correcting. There

Environment committee  Well, I don't think there's too much that's really unique about Nile Creek. I think you're hearing it as a model in terms of the extent of community organization that has gotten behind them. You heard them provide examples of huge leveraging. They were saying that for every dol

Environment committee  Not quite. They did start with pinks, that's correct. They were very successful in restoring a good run of pink salmon. Pink salmon can become very abundant very quickly, because they have a fixed two-year life cycle. Essentially what they did is restore the ecosystem first, so

Environment committee  I have to agree; it's a huge question. There is a lack of regulation right now, to be honest. The concern is very great. There is extensive shale gas development in northeastern B.C., and there have been efforts to expand into major salmon watersheds. It does take a huge volume

Environment committee  Sure, thank you. I think that Jeff's comment that everything is connected is probably where you start. I see this as a continuum that we build from the base up, not as two different directions. There is a need to have consistency at the national level for principles that we woul

Environment committee  Yes, it should definitely not be heavy-handed. You want to stimulate the initiative at the local scale. By stimulating it and resourcing it to some extent, as Jeff has said, you'll get excellent return and excellent support. They will know that their interests are being attended

Environment committee  Good morning, committee members. Thank you for this opportunity to provide comments on the initial steps in developing a national conservation plan, a plan I think will be welcomed by many environmentally conscious Canadians in light of recent announcements associated with the bu