Fisheries committee  Yes, that's correct. That's still the case under section 35, because if you look at the definition of serious harm, which is in section 2, serious harm to fish is defined as the death of the fish or the permanent alteration or destruction of habitat. So you can't kill a fish without the minister's authorization.

Fisheries committee  As he could under the previous regime; he could authorize it under section 32. Section 32 says you can't kill fish by means other than fishing unless the minister authorizes it. The new section 35 says basically the same thing, but it's broader. You can't do these things unless the minister authorizes it.

Fisheries committee  Yes. We have the ability in the set of regulations I was discussing. One of the authorities for the minister is to establish national standards for anything, for fish passage, for water crossings. We also have the ability to incorporate standards by reference, so if they were established by provinces, by industry groups, by conservation groups, we can incorporate those by reference.

Fisheries committee  There's nothing in that regulation-making authority that says it must be a national standard.

Fisheries committee  It can be a regional standard, or we can adopt a provincial standard—in Manitoba; those types of things.

Fisheries committee  We do under the new regime. The idea of moving away from just a “You can't block the river by two-thirds” to making it clear that the authorization in section 35.... Section 35 basically says that you can't have any undertaking, work, or activity that causes serious harm to fish that are part of a commercial, recreational, or aboriginal fishery, or to fish that support such a fishery.

Fisheries committee  I do hear you. I appreciate that.

Fisheries committee  Yes. A number of them—

Fisheries committee  No, the changes will come into effect when the Governor in Council decides they come into effect. It requires an order in council. We are working to be prepared for January 1. It doesn't mean that it's necessarily January 1. It's when the Governor in Council decides. The groups that you addressed—we have spoken to them about these changes.

Fisheries committee  It's awfully difficult to answer this one. The answer is that it depends.

Fisheries committee  It depends on how many charges we laid and how many we successfully laid. In the last three years, it's been in between $1 million and $1.5 million of overall penalties under the Fisheries Act. This would only capture a portion of those. It's the ones effected under section 35 and those types of sections, not licence breaches.

Fisheries committee  The other thing is that under section 35, there were nine penalties given out last year. There were 32 a couple of years ago. The other thing I would note is the substantially increased penalty provisions under the new regime. Whereas we didn't have a minimum before, we now have a minimum of $5,000, and maximums that are much higher.

Fisheries committee  We can. What would happen in the instance of the environmental damages fund is that it would go to the environmental damages fund, which is a special-purpose account, established by law, and section 40 says it is for the purposes of restoration and fisheries protection. So it must be spent on that, and the department can partner with individual groups to be able to assist and align with that.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. There have been discussions with different groups since the legislation was passed, but let me start with the January 1, 2013, question. What Bill C-38 says, or what the act says now, is that it will come into effect when Governor in Council decides that it comes into effect.

Fisheries committee  Treaty arrangements are included in land claims agreements. Again, it does speak to a greater legal clarity and greater legal certainty that we're covering things. But there were some issues. I would use the example of the Nisga'a fishery. The Nisga'a fishery is unique. It's pursuant to the treaty arrangement that we have with the Nisga'a.