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House Hansard - 77

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 30, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 77 - May/30/22
Mr. Patrick Weiler
  • May/30/22 11:25:26 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, we recognize that protecting and sustaining aquatic species at risk is critically important to ecosystem health and thriving fisheries. I am hopeful that our efforts over the past few years to protect the endangered southern resident killer whales from fishing gear entanglements and collisions with vessels will help the population grow and rebuild. It is clear that sensible protection measures are necessary and that we must work in collaboration with other governmental departments, industry, NGOs, academia, indigenous communities and our U.S. counterparts to ensure that these whales have the best possible chance to recover. Could the minister please explain what measures are in effect this year?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/30/22 11:26:06 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, there is a great range of measures. Not that many years ago, pleasure craft could come right up to observe killer whales in their habitat as they were foraging, feeding or just conducting their daily life activities. That was very interruptive of their feeding. We have increased the measures to keep pleasure craft and whale-watching craft a distance from the southern resident killer whales. There has been a slowdown of vessels when whales are detected in an area. There is surveillance happening so that we know when there is a pod coming through. There is also hatchery chinook production that is intended to provide more food, because chinook are the key food for the species. The southern resident killer whales face many challenges, and they are not all of human origin. The transient killer whales from the north that overlap in habitat with the southern resident killer whales are becoming successful in taking over the northern part of the southern resident killer whale range. We are also working with scientists from California, Oregon and Washington, through the international killer whale collective, to get the best possible understanding of the measures that we need to take, which we will continue taking to do our very best to protect these whales.
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Mr. Patrick Weiler
  • May/30/22 11:28:13 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the minister for her detailed response. I would like to shift gears a little and ask about a different matter. In 2015, folks in and around the lower mainland were horrified to see the impacts of the Marathassa bunker oil spill that occurred in English Bay. In fact, we did not find out about this spill until almost 24 hours after it happened. Unfortunately, the shipping company that was responsible for this spill was never held accountable because of the environmental laws as written in the Environmental Protection Act. One of the main reasons we did not find the spill for almost 24 hours was that the Kitsilano Coast Guard station was shut down. I was hoping the minister could please explain to us the importance of reopening this Coast Guard base as a mechanism to keep our ocean communities safe from such a spill ever happening again.
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/30/22 11:29:14 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, indeed, the Kitsilano Coast Guard base had been shut down in a short-sighted budget-cutting measure by the previous government, much to the concern of British Columbians. Vancouver is the busiest port in Canada, and the number of recreational boaters is enormous. In my constituency alone, the Jericho Sailing Centre has 2,000 people who use non-motorized watercraft in the harbour, and yet the search and rescue base was shut down. We made a commitment to reopen the base, which we did very soon after being elected in 2015. We expanded the base, and it is now able to serve the safety of Vancouverites on the waters.
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The Chair
  • May/30/22 11:30:14 p.m.
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Continuing debate, the member for North Okanagan—Shuswap.
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Mr. Mel Arnold (North Okanagan—Shuswap, CPC)
  • May/30/22 11:30:18 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, who owns Canada's fisheries resources?
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Hon. Joyce Murray (Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Lib.)
  • May/30/22 11:30:32 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, they are a public good. They are a public property resource.
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Mr. Mel Arnold
  • May/30/22 11:30:39 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, according to the Constitution, who is ultimately responsible for managing Canada's fisheries resources?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/30/22 11:30:49 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, it is the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the minister who signs off. I am responsible.
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Mr. Mel Arnold
  • May/30/22 11:31:01 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, according to section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867, it gives the exclusive legislative authority to the Parliament of Canada in all matters pertaining to fisheries. Considering that the common resources of Canada's fisheries belong to Canadians, who does the minister think should be the beneficiary of Canada's fisheries resources?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/30/22 11:31:22 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, it is a great opportunity for me to point out just how rich and abundant we are in fisheries resources here in Canada, with 90% of our fisheries in healthy shape, and to the benefit of the harvesters, the communities and the whole—
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The Chair
  • May/30/22 11:31:42 p.m.
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The hon. member.
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Mr. Mel Arnold
  • May/30/22 11:31:44 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, how important is DFO's at-sea science to its assessment and management of fisheries resources?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/30/22 11:31:52 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, all of our science programs are key to managing the fisheries.
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Mr. Mel Arnold
  • May/30/22 11:32:02 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the minister previously stated that she is proud of her government's delivery of Coast Guard vessels, so I would like to ask her about the new offshore fisheries science vessels the Sir John Franklin, Jacques Cartier and John Cabot. These vessels have been plagued with corrosion, premature wear, mislabelling and even a stop-sail order from Transport Canada since entering service between 2019 and 2021. How much at-sea science and assessment capacity has DFO lost because of the deficient boats delivered by the Liberal government to the Coast Guard?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/30/22 11:32:43 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I want to remind the member of the decade of darkness that ended in 2015 when our government actually committed to replacing the fleet. It is the case that new ships often have challenges that need to be worked out, and that is exactly what we are doing.
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Mr. Mel Arnold
  • May/30/22 11:33:09 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, it was the Canadian shipbuilding strategy established by the previous Conservative government that started the delivery of these vessels. The delivery has been under the minister's government and you are taking credit for a shipbuilding strategy. How does DFO manage fisheries when at-sea science data is absent?
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The Chair
  • May/30/22 11:33:27 p.m.
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I want to remind members to ask their questions through the Chair.
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/30/22 11:33:33 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, it is with the best data we can accumulate, and often it is from fish harvesters.
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Mr. Mel Arnold
  • May/30/22 11:33:44 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, is the minister confident the Franklin, Cartier and Cabot vessels delivered by her government are seaworthy and safe workplaces for the Coast Guard and DFO personnel aboard?
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