Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Bernadette Jordan was on the hot seat at the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans on Wednesday.
It was the first time the Minister appeared before the committee since they launched discussions on the implementation of a Moderate Livelihood fishery for Mi’Kmaq fishers back in mid-October.
She faced some tough questions from a number of participants, including West Nova Conservative MP Chris d’Entremont, who grilled the minister about DFO action – or inaction – in St. Mary’s Bay.
Minister Jordan said that a number of traps have been pulled from the bay over the past few years.
“So there has been ongoing work done of course I can’t speak to ongoing investigations about what’s happening, but there is absolutely always – (R)CMP is always there to do their job – that is their main goal.”
d’Entremont says Minister Jordan’s testimony wasn’t really surprising to him.
He notes that the Minister rarely strayed off talking points and messaging, as expected.
d’Entremont says when it comes to the Minister’s assertion that she has been engaging in dialogue with commercial stakeholders, that’s not the feedback he’s receiving.
“I think the difference here is that she’s talking to them,” he began. “She’s not listening to them. She goes in not unlike the way the meeting went, here are the talking points, here’s my speech. So I’m hoping that this might open up here eyes a little that she has to listen to the groups as well. You have to listen more than you talk. That’s why you have two ears and one mouth.”
d’Entremont says to Jordan’s credit, she did seem geniune when talking about everyone’s safety ahead of the upcoming commercial season.
Things got a little heated between Committee Vice-Chair and Conservative Fisheries critic Richard Bragdon at times, especially during one exchange when Bragdon asked the Minister point-blank if the Federal Liberals are actively pursuing the establishment of a separate fishing authority.
The Minister was visibly exasperated by the question.
“Mister Bragdon. The Supreme Court made it very clear that First Nations have a right to a moderate livelihood fishery,” she asserted. “I am working in negotiation with First Nations to make sure that we implement that right. The negotiation is something is something that is between the First Nations and this government. I don’t know how much more clear I can make that.”
Earlier in the meeting, Bragdon pointed out that Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil has been very critical of the Minister’s actions so far, asking whether she agrees with the Premier’s position that she ‘hasn’t done enough’.
Minister Jordan defended herself by saying she has been ‘extremely engaged’ on the file since her appointment.
“This is a nation-to-nation negotiation, that is what we will continue to do to, to work with First Nations to make sure that we implement their Treaty Right,” she said. “However I do recognize that commercial harvesters have concerns, and that is why I have continued to meet with them as well.”
New Brunswick Fundy Royal MP Rob Moore began his testimony by asking the Minister if she has read the Marshall decision.
The Minister hesitated before admitting that she did not read it in its entirety.
The Marshall decision affirmed the validity of the 1760-61 Peace and Friendship treaties, upon which the right to a moderate livelihood fishery is based.
Meantime, Cape Breton-Canso Liberal MP Mike Kelloway had questions of his own, surrounding a moderate livelihood fishery launched by Potlotek First Nation in St. Peter’s Bay on Cape Breton.
Kelloway asked about the apparent recent decline of stocks in the Bay.
“Thank you, Mr. Kelloway,” Minister Jordan began. “I will say that generally, lobster stocks are very healthy. The monitoring recently indicated that the fishing activities that are taking place have increased significantly in St. Peter’s Bay. The scale of the operation of the current fishery there is actually even in excess of what the First Nation moderate livelihood proposals are. DFO is responsible for the overall management of Canada’s fisheries and the stocks that they depend on, so we need to make sure that the fisheries officers are – sorry, I’m going to start again,” she said.
“The fisheries officers are very concerned about the excessive fishing and that it could negatively impact the long-term sustainability,” she continued. “We are concerned about that. We want to make sure, as I have said every time I have talked about this issue, that conservation has to be the priority. As I’ve said, right now what’s going on in St. Peter’s Bay is more than what even the First Nations moderate livelihood plans have indicated that they would be.”
Committee talks on moderate livelihood continue until the beginning of December.