44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 28, 2022 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join this discussion and listen to the thoughtful remarks of my colleagues from the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. I am also pleased to rise to speak to Bill C-251, an act respecting the development of a federal framework on the conservation of fish stocks and management of pinnipeds.
I would first like to thank and congratulate my friend from Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame for his hard work on this important issue and for this innovative bill. Like him, I come from a riding that depends on the Atlantic Ocean for the local fishing economy, and I have many constituents who are concerned about the damage pinnipeds are having on our marine ecosystems.
The science is clear: Pinniped overpopulation is having a severe impact on fish and other marine life populations from coast to coast. I hear from fishermen at every wharf I go to along South Shore that they are worried about how this overpopulation is impacting the stocks of many species that they fish commercially. This includes, but is not limited to, mackerel, halibut, shrimp, crab, capelin, Atlantic and Pacific salmon and even lobster. Pinnipeds are devouring them all.
There is also scientific evidence that suggests that plummeting cod stock populations off of Newfoundland in the 1990s, which led to the cod moratorium, was due to an overabundance in the seal population, as well as Spanish and Portuguese overfishing. I sat in as a staffer on the ad hoc committee on the fishery in those years during those decisions.
Additionally, many residents on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts have seen pinnipeds deep into rivers like never before. Rivers are not a natural habitat for them. They are chasing the food that would otherwise be abundant in the ocean, but the animals are adapting to the diminishing food stocks in the oceans they have been consuming and trying to find their source of protein and fat elsewhere.
Every day it seems like another fishing industry is faced with perilous quota reductions and warnings from DFO that, if overfishing continues, more moratoriums and fishing closures will happen. The Liberals are intent on leaving all the fish in the ocean in order to feed pinnipeds and reduce economic activity. These gloomy warnings cause stress for families that depend on the economic benefit that commercial fishing provides.
Countless studies have shown that pinniped overpopulation is contributing to reduced stocks and an imbalance in the ocean and in our biodiversity. For example, there were 2.7 million seals at the start of the cod collapse, the cod moratorium, in 1992. Now, 10 million seals in Atlantic Canada consume the weight of the entire Atlantic commercial catch every 15 days. On top of that, seals in Atlantic Canada annually eat 97% of what is taken out of the ocean.
Harvesters, indigenous groups, coastal communities and scientists are desperate for updated population estimates for pinnipeds. It is reported that seal populations are at their highest levels in a century, and these populations simply continue to grow. In order to address this problem, we need to know just how bad it is and ensure that DFO comes up with a plan to deal with it, which they have not done for 30 years.
Let me repeat, the purpose of the bill before us is not to prescribe a solution. Rather, it is to compel the government to produce an annual census of pinnipeds in Canadian waters and use science to implement a management plan. We have a duty to ensure that the Minister of Fisheries and DFO are working in the interest of commercial fisheries and fishermen to protect the sustainability of our oceans. All parties agree on this. That is why there has been unanimous consent at the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans to study this issue in both this Parliament and the last.
Supporting Bill C-251 is common sense, and coastal MPs from every party in the House have recognized that a pinniped census is required to ensure that DFO is doing its job to protect the biodiversity of our oceans. If there is not all-party support, I would be curious to hear the rationale from members as to why they are prepared to let our oceans face these catastrophic outcomes.
The bill calls for a federal framework to be tabled in the House of Commons within one year and annually after that to provide a yearly pinniped census and a management plan to tackle the problem. We need to know what we are facing.
I have heard hon. members talk about and question costs, which is always a consideration in the House for the government. DFO does biomass studies every year in the $2-billion increase it has added to its budget since 2015. We do annual biomass studies of many species, but not enough. Why would we not do biomass studies of the largest predator of our commercial stock? We have not done that ever in the history of our country. This framework calls on that.
The goal is to promote conservation and protection of marine ecosystems. At the end of the day, I think this is a principle that all members can agree upon. We cannot allow an ecological disaster to take place in our oceans simply because the actions required to stop it may not be politically popular. We cannot turn a blind eye to the carnage and suffering that will take place if pinnipeds run out of things to eat. It is a fact. They will starve within 10 to 20 years.
The situation is putting our entire biodiversity at risk. DFO has estimated that if something is not done about the grey seal population off the coast of Nova Scotia, the entire Nova Scotia fishery will disappear within 10 to 20 years. Membertou First Nation in Cape Breton is taking an innovative approach to this problem, which is having a severe impact on the first nation's ability to fish and maintain its livelihood. The band has been piloting a grey seal harvest. It is calling on the government to allow a full commercial harvest of grey seals. The band is teaching its community members how to humanely harvest pinnipeds.
Over the past few years, a small number of seals were harvested by Membertou, with flippers and loins processed by a Maritime seal company. Most of a pinniped can be harvested. Over eight countries in the world are harvesting pinnipeds now, and up to 100% of them is being used for things, as my colleague mentioned, from protein powders, to omega-3 and food sources for Canadians and other people around the world.
We should look to the experiences and ingenuity of first nations on how this issue can be dealt with. After all, it was our first nations who were first harvesting seals. We should expand and broaden our knowledge of their uses, such as meat and fur. We have seen how regulated and careful management of pinnipeds can be successful.
For example, Norway has managed its seal populations to a successful equilibrium, and Iceland has ensured its thriving fishing economy is not damaged by the overpopulation of pinnipeds. These two progressive, democratic states have found ways to protect the sustainability of the North Atlantic by keeping an eye on pinniped populations and continuing to be strong exporters of this seafood product.
This is an important number. Russia and Norway catch more Atlantic cod than the entire Canadian fishery, yet that species was in decline at the same level in 1992 as it was in Canada. We did a moratorium. They managed pinnipeds. There is no reason why we cannot continue to have our leadership on the world stage, as we do in so many areas, when it comes to the humane and sustainable fishery of pinnipeds for generations of Canadians to come.
In fact, we need to do this for our coastal communities to ensure the biodiversity of the ocean is returned to its natural state and we can continue to reap the benefits with a robust commercial fishery and a sustainable diversity of our oceans in the years to come.
1373 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to be here today to discuss this private member's bill, Bill C-251, an act respecting the development of a federal framework on the conservation of fish stocks and management of pinnipeds. I share the desire of the member for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame to support fish stock conservation efforts and, in doing so, the livelihood of commercial fish harvesters and communities from coast to coast to coast.
Like the hon. member, this government sees sustaining healthy and productive aquatic ecosystems as a priority. We are also acutely aware of the need to support fish stock conservation efforts and, in so doing, the livelihoods that depend on wise management of our fisheries, oceans and ocean resources.
Accordingly, I appreciate the opportunity to discuss Bill C-251.
Pinnipeds are a group of marine mammals that includes seals, sea lions and walruses. Our government's current approach to pinniped management focuses on a sustainable, well-regulated seal harvest that supports Canada's indigenous, rural, coastal and remote populations. This approach is informed by the best available scientific evidence. Accordingly, management of the harvest is designed to provide economic opportunity to harvesters within a sound scientific framework. There are currently more seals available for harvest under the management approach than are taken by the harvesters, many times more, in fact. This is a gap that we believe we must close.
Turning to Bill C-251, however, I note the bill is primarily targeted at seals, which some commercial fish harvesters view as the cause of slow recovery for some key fish stocks. The bill would require the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to develop a framework that includes, among other things, measures to regulate management and control of pinniped populations to establish acceptable levels for pinniped species, address impacts caused by pinniped populations, encourage the use of anti-predator mechanisms and promote year-round controls on pinnipeds.
I respect the desire to protect fish stocks that lies behind Bill C-251 and I recognize the significance of the fish and seafood sector to our economy. In 2021, Canada exported 8.7 billion dollars' worth of fish and seafood to 119 countries around the world, and $6.2 billion of that, over 70%, was to the United States.
389 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
The time provided for the consideration of Private Members' Business has now expired and the bill is dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper.
The hon. member will have six minutes and 55 seconds the next time this matter is before the House.
49 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/28/22 6:30:54 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, as the member of Parliament for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, home to the training ground of the warriors at Garrison Petawawa, Canada's largest army base, I welcome the opportunity to hold the government accountable for the safety and security of our women and men in uniform.
Earlier this year, I asked a very specific question regarding the readiness of Canadian soldiers now that they found themselves in a situation where chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons, or CBRN for short, are threatened. The lack of response follows the short-sighted decision of a previous Liberal government to shut down the emergency preparedness college in Arnprior. It was confirmed this week by the CBC government propaganda agency that the earliest the Canadian Armed Forces might be properly equipped and trained against these 21st century terrors is 2030. The government does not learn.
The war in Ukraine is today, not eight years from now. It is today. Today, there are more than 200,000 active cases of COVID-19 in Canada. Canadians will recall the decision by the government to send soldiers to Latvia during the COVID-19 pandemic without inoculation. A significant COVID-19 outbreak struck Canadian Armed Forces' members deployed to Latvia.
The majority of the deployed Canadian soldiers were not vaccinated ahead of their mission because of the failure of the government to procure vaccines after a botched deal with the Chinese communists. What limited vaccines were received were given to federal prisoners, rapists and murderers, before they were given to our soldiers.
The official position of the divisive socialist coalition Prime Minister was that our soldiers are young and healthy. They should recover from the virus. They would, dare I say to the censure-loving socialist coalition that does not believe in science, develop natural immunity. What a hypocrite our blackface wearing Prime Minister is when he expects soldiers to develop a natural immunity and not other Canadians. It is a failure to both inadequately prepare and to not urgently respond in a manner that is commensurate with the threat.
Chemical weapons such as nerve agents, once inhaled, can directly attack the respiratory systems of soldiers and be fatal. Thus, even a small exposure to contaminated air can pose a significant risk to soldiers. Soldiers who are exposed to CBRN weapons become casualties. CBRN material is used as an umbrella term for those agents in any physical state and form which can cause hazards to populations, territories and forces. It also refers to chemical weapons, precursors and facilities, that is, equipment or compounds that can be used for the development or deployment of weapons of mass destruction, CBRN weapons or CBRN devices.
Over the past few years, CBRN weapons or CBRN devices have been used, so over the past few years there has been an increase in the number of conflicts globally. This has led to an increase in the demand for CBRN defensive weapons, such as personal protective equipment, detection systems, vehicle-mounted improvised explosive devices detection systems, detonators and decontamination devices. Canada has been ignoring the threat while other countries got prepared. The losses, in terms of life and equipment, have triggered the enhancement of CBRN defences for our troops.
Despite budgetary constraints, our allies in NATO and Europe are investing in improving CBRN defences for both troops and vehicle. In September 2021, NATO held its 17th annual conference in weapons of mass of destruction, arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation in Copenhagen. Canada was warned of the threat. NATO's combined joint CBRN defence task force, a NATO-deployable military asset, is a key part of the alliance's work on CBRN defence. It consists of—
616 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/28/22 6:35:04 p.m.
- Watch
I am sorry, but I actually gave a little more time for flexibility.
The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence.
23 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/28/22 6:35:13 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, COVID-19 has affected every part of our society and every Canadian, including members of our Canadian Armed Forces. I would like to clarify that, in fact, COVID-19 did not stop CBRN training for new recruits, as the member has incorrectly alleged. Although some of our training and recruiting had to be scaled down during the earliest days of the pandemic, our military was not stood down. To say so is completely inaccurate and, frankly, disrespectful to the Canadian Armed Forces members who have worked tirelessly to help Canadians through this pandemic. We will never compromise on readiness, and our priority is maintaining a fighting force that can be deployed anywhere in the world.
Russia's egregious invasion of Ukraine has not only resulted in instability across the globe, but shown that we must never step back from that responsibility. Today, our organization is in the midst of a substantial forces-wide reconstitution program to rebuild our strength and readiness for the future. This includes making sure our members receive the right training so they can effectively and safely perform their required duties.
I would like to thank the member opposite for highlighting the importance of the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear course. Canadian Forces leadership and recruit schools have continued to provide this course given that all CAF members require CBRN training to qualify for deployment. As part of basic military qualification and basic military officer qualification, CAF members also learn to operate in a contaminated environment.
National Defence maintains and manages a robust inventory of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear protection equipment to ensure that Canadian Armed Forces members can safely conduct operations in the most adverse conditions. On operations, Canadian Armed Forces members are issued protection equipment directly, including CBRN equipment, or the equipment is transported and stored on location for use, if needed. As part of pre-deployment processes, equipment is verified for proper functionality. Canadian Armed Forces members also receive training to ensure they know how to use such equipment.
To ensure the readiness of our Canadian Armed Forces, we are also improving and modernizing our operational capabilities in the face of a rapidly evolving security environment. We are moving forward on important projects for the navy, army and air force, including our Arctic offshore patrol ships, new armoured combat support vehicles for the Canadian Army and our planned fleet of 88 advanced fighter jets. We are ensuring the CAF is ready to meet adversities in non-traditional domains like cyber, space and information, including by integrating our activity in those domains with what we are already doing at sea, on land and in the air.
Through our reconstitution efforts and the work we are doing to deliver on key capital projects, we are making sure that our people are well equipped and well supported for whatever comes their way. This will ensure they are ready to meet traditional and non-traditional defence and security threats to Canada and our allies from across all domains and from all directions, now and for decades to come.
513 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/28/22 6:38:59 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, NATO’s combined joint CBRN defence task force consists of the CBRN defence battalion and the CBRN joint assessment team. The task force was activated for the very first time in a deterrence and defence capacity in March 2022 in response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and its dangerous rhetoric around nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
When facing a new threat, be it chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear, there is a call for safety: Protect our men and women at the highest level using all precautions. Scale the protection up. Despite repeated warnings from our allies, as recently as last month, the threat to our soldiers is being downplayed or ignored. The threat of an escalation in hostilities to use these weapons is very real.
Canada needs to be procuring, maintaining, enhancing and developing effective soldier protection systems now.
145 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/28/22 6:39:55 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, while COVID-19 has impacted some CAF training and recruitment efforts, we have never wavered in in our commitment to operational readiness. We know we must redouble our efforts to ensure that we have a sufficient number of CAF members available for domestic and international missions and that they have the tools and training they need to excel no matter where the task.
To address these issues, the chief of the defence staff has launched a forces-wide reconstitution program that is complementary to our efforts to deliver on the promises we put forward in Canada's defence policy. As we conduct a review of this policy to account for the changing global security environment, we will keep working together to build a Canadian Armed Forces that is ready to tackle our biggest threats today and into the future.
141 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/28/22 6:40:52 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise, as the New Democratic critic for public safety, to follow up on a question I asked the minister on December 10 of last year. That question was following an important report that was tabled in the 43rd Parliament on systemic racism in policing in Canada. I gave a very clear question to the minister at that time, when I asked him directly if he and his department would “implement the recommendations so that the RCMP could better serve all of our communities.”
His answer was that he was “going to continue to work with the RCMP to ensure that they provide top, world-class law enforcement right across the country so that we can have public safety for all Canadians.” Unfortunately, that is a little light on details, and I sincerely hope that the parliamentary secretary tonight can provide some clarification and more detail on exactly what the government is hoping to do.
Before I get into the details, I think it is important to really provide a basis for why this report and its recommendations were so important, and I am going to quote from the report:
Given the pervasive nature of systemic racism in policing in Canada, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security...has concluded that a transformative national effort is required to ensure that all Indigenous, Black and other racialized people in Canada are not subject to the discrimination and injustice that is inherent in the system as it exists today.
During the study, the committee acknowledged from witnesses, and they had a very broad cross-section of witnesses, a resounding acknowledgement of the reality of systemic racism in policing in Canada. The committee was told that accountability, oversight and transparency are critical to restoring trust with indigenous and racialized communities that are subject to systemic racism.
When we are talking about systemic racism, the committee provided a helpful quote from Senator Murray Sinclair. He said:
Systemic racism is when the system itself is based upon and founded upon racist beliefs and philosophies and thinking and has put in place policies and practices that literally force even the non-racists to act in a racist way.
I want to say this, because my communities in Cowichan—Malahat—Langford are entirely policed by the RCMP, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what those frontline officers do in our communities. They are often the first on the scene and they are dealing with the opioid crisis, but we cannot step away from the fact that the RCMP itself, as a force and as a wider entity across Canada, is in need of reform.
I want to hear from the parliamentary secretary, because she was a member of the committee that produced that report, so she is very familiar with the witness testimony and the deliberations the committee went through. There are very specific recommendations in that report that could be instituted through legislative reform of the RCMP Act.
For example, there is recommendation 1, which really tackles the mandate, independence and efficacy of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission. This recommends making sure it has the ability to refer cases or recommend that criminal charges be laid, creating statutory timelines for responses from the RCMP, requiring the RCMP commissioner to annually report to the minister on steps taken to implement CRCC recommendations, and tabling that report to Parliament.
In closing, the recommendations 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 are all there for the government to follow up on, and I would like to have a clear answer from the parliamentary secretary on when her government is going to implement those recommendations.
625 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/28/22 6:45:02 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for this important question and for his continued excellent work on the public safety committee. As he mentioned, I have served as a member of the committee since being elected to this place, and I am incredibly proud of the work our committee achieved in the last Parliament through our report on systemic racism in policing.
I would be remiss if I did not also thank the hon. member for bringing a motion to the committee that received unanimous support, for the chair to retable that report. The work done in the previous Parliament was important. The committee made 42 recommendations, and it is essential that the government provide a fulsome response to that report. I look forward to that response being tabled in this place soon.
Tonight I am pleased to speak to the steps the government has already taken to begin to address systemic racism and increase accountability in policing. Police services in Canada are entrusted with a broad mandate and significant powers to enforce the law, keep the peace and maintain public safety. Maintaining the trust of the public through accountable, transparent policing is crucial to effective policing.
Incidents of excessive use of force by law enforcement in Canada and the United States against indigenous, Black and racialized people prompted demands for change in 2020. We know that systemic change is needed. That is why concrete action has been taken to modernize the RCMP, transform its culture and identify and eliminate systemic barriers and systemic racism.
In budget 2021, the government allocated $75 million over five years and $13.5 million ongoing to support the RCMP to take action to combat systemic racism, including through reforming recruitment and training, improving the collection, analysis and recording of race-based data, more rapidly evaluating the impact of police activities on marginalized communities and improving community engagement and consultation with Black, indigenous and racialized communities.
The RCMP is also piloting the use of implicit bias testing as part of the recruitment process. Following the launch of the equity, diversity and exclusion strategy in January 2021 and the application of a GBA+ review, new and modernized entrance exams assessing applicants' cognitive and personality attributes were added and will roll out in the coming months.
Additional reforms are needed, including external reviews of the RCMP's sanctions and disciplinary regime and modernizing de-escalation training to include training on implicit bias, specialized training for experienced officers, updated training for cadets, and mandatory training on cultural awareness and humility and anti-racism.
In addition, through the launch of the Independent Centre for Harassment Resolution, we have committed to greater externalization to ensure that there can be no conflicts of interest while reviewing complaints against RCMP members. In addition to internal reforms, independent civilian review bodies like the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission are key to keeping the RCMP accountable to the public they serve. That is why the Minister of Public Safety has been mandated by the Prime Minister to bring forward legislation that establishes defined timelines for the RCMP to respond to recommendations made by the CRCC.
Additionally, in support of greater police accountability, we are committed to enhancing the management advisory board to be in line with other Canadian police services. These are some of the important measures we are taking to address systemic racism, and I look forward to working with the hon. member on this critical issue to ensure that all 42 recommendations are implemented.
590 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/28/22 6:48:57 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I, like the parliamentary secretary, look forward to seeing the government's responses to all of those recommendations tabled in the near future. One of the main things we can do here in the Parliament of Canada, as a legislative body, is that we can tackle reforms to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act. I have asked the Library of Parliament to take the specific recommendations that were in that report, the ones that deal with reforming the RCMP act. I have asked the Library of Parliament to show me what those reforms and amendments would look like.
The only question is whether it is going to be up to me as a private member to introduce that as a private member's bill. Can I ask the government to take the lead on this and actually introduce a government bill to take the reforms that are necessary on that act?
153 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/28/22 6:49:55 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I would just say to the hon. member that I appreciate his doing that and reaching out to the Library of Parliament, and I hope that he will share that report with me and that we can work together to ensure that the RCMP act reflects the recommendations from our report.
We are bringing forward clear timelines for compliance with the recommendations made regarding the CRCC. Those were very important recommendations and ones that will provide oversight for the RCMP, as well as consequences, which is something we had heard was lacking. We will continue to work collaboratively with partners, including the hon. member.
106 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/28/22 6:50:48 p.m.
- Watch
The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).
(The House adjourned at 6:51 p.m.)
38 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
