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House Hansard - 77

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 30, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 77 - May/30/22
Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/30/22 11:56:34 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, this analysis and development of regulations is being done by Environment and Climate Change Canada. It is not a partnership with DFO, but I take the member's point that it is very important that polystyrene be regulated so that it is not in the ocean in the same volume that it has been, because it is very deleterious to fish.
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Ms. Elizabeth May
  • May/30/22 11:57:10 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I am moving on to southern resident killer whales. By the way, one of my constituents whom the minister will also know, the Hon. Pat Carney, has said for many years that we do not have an oceans protection plan but an oceans protection wish list. I would like to see an oceans protection plan and not just a pile of money and a list of things to do. In relation to southern resident killer whales in my riding, the interim sanctuary zones around Pender and Saturna have been there since 2019. Nobody has ever been charged and nobody has ever been ticketed. There have been numerous violations. The local volunteers and whale-sighting groups have now established that whales are present year-round, yet this seasonal so-called sanctuary zone is only operating June 1 to November 30. Is the minister willing to look at the new science and recognize that whales are present year-round?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/30/22 11:58:02 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I am always willing to look at new science. I am always willing to adjust our measures to reflect what we have learned, and the southern resident killer whales are a key species for us to protect. There is a review every year, and we will take a look at the enforcement concerns that the member is raising.
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Ms. Elizabeth May
  • May/30/22 11:58:36 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, with the threat of ocean acidification as a result of the increased atmospheric carbon creating carbonic acid and threatening life in the oceans, is DFO currently measuring pH levels on all of our coastlines to keep track of ocean acidification?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/30/22 11:58:56 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I have seen the science around acidification and deoxygenation, as well as warming impacts, so we have a triple whammy. It is one of the reasons that it is so important that we now think about climate change as we do our marine protected area planning, because the resilience of the healthy seabed floor is important for the resilience of the whole ecology. We need to build that resilience as we face these changes under climate change, and we do monitor the pH levels of all of our oceans.
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The Chair
  • May/30/22 11:59:45 p.m.
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Resuming debate, the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni.
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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)
  • May/30/22 11:59:50 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, first I want to thank the minister and her team, and you, Mr. Chair, for being here tonight. It has been four hours. Crab harvesters in area E, Tofino, have been at a continued significant economic loss since the April 1 trap reallocation. The government still has not responded to their requests for an independently facilitated negotiation process, a process that is imperative to help speed up the licence buyback and properly compensate harvesters for the immediate losses they face and will continue to face until enough licences are bought back. When will the minister be responding to their requests, meet and set up a negotiation table?
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Hon. Joyce Murray (Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Lib.)
  • May/31/22 12:00:37 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, yes, I understand the difficulties when the crab licences were allocated due to a court decision to the local first nations. It would be great to just add some licences, but because of conservation concerns that is not possible. We are now working with harvesters and have a budget to negotiate a settlement for that capacity.
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Mr. Gord Johns
  • May/31/22 12:01:11 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, how many licences is the minister committed to buying back to ensure that there is no net loss of traps and that the “willing buyer, willing seller” policy is adhered to?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/31/22 12:01:22 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, the member has correctly talked about our “willing buyer, willing seller” policy. The volume of traps that was allocated to the first nations is the volume that we will be buying back, and bids are currently being accepted.
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Mr. Gord Johns
  • May/31/22 12:01:47 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, it has been a year since the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced the $647-million Pacific salmon strategy initiative. In that time, there has been really no genuine engagement with first nations. The Nuu-chah-nulth nations especially are saying to me that to implement the PSSI on the west coast of Vancouver Island, they need to be engaged clearly. Indeed, all the evidence to date points to the PSSI as yet another example of the department directing long-awaited funding toward internal priorities instead of working with first nations to decide how best to allocate limited resources. Will the minister direct her staff to immediately reach out to the Nuu-chah-nulth nations to establish a process for a jointly managed implementation of the PSSI on the west coast of Vancouver Island?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/31/22 12:02:40 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, one of the key pillars of the PSSI is collaboration. On the one hand we are being told we are not moving quickly enough, but on the other hand we are very committed to collaborating with indigenous communities and others, and that work is ongoing.
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Mr. Gord Johns
  • May/31/22 12:03:05 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, how will the minister ensure that the PSSI Pacific salmon commercial licence retirement program supports coastal communities and owner-operator fishers, avoids further corporate consolidation of the fishing fleet and holds industry participants responsible for supporting sustainable harvest transformation?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/31/22 12:03:26 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, harvest transformation is one of the key pillars of the Pacific salmon initiative. That means we will be consulting. We will be working with harvesters and working with industry, again on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis.
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Mr. Gord Johns
  • May/31/22 12:03:45 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, the installation of intensive subtidal geoduck aquaculture is proposed for the herring spawning grounds in Lambert Channel which, according to Department of Fisheries and Oceans records, are the source of 38% of all the herring spawn that has ever occurred on the B.C. coast and would support the whole Strait of Georgia marine ecosystem. Will the minister put the protection of the spawning habitat of this keystone species ahead of the installation of industrial aquaculture and save it from the inevitable cumulative damage that would follow?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/31/22 12:04:21 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, I am interested in more details on the specific facility that the member is referring to, but I want to say that conservation is our bottom line. It is our top priority.
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Mr. Gord Johns
  • May/31/22 12:04:39 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, will the minister commit to taking a whole-of-ecosystem management-based approach? She has heard me talk about this endlessly, because we see harvests of some species impacting other species. Will she gear her department to take a whole-of-ecosystem management approach, especially with the blue economy?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/31/22 12:04:58 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, that certainly is our approach and that is something that we will be deepening.
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Mr. Gord Johns
  • May/31/22 12:05:11 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, does the minister support owner-operator?
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Hon. Joyce Murray
  • May/31/22 12:05:15 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, yes I do.
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