FOPO Committee Meeting
Notices of Meeting include information about the subject matter to be examined by the committee and date, time and place of the meeting, as well as a list of any witnesses scheduled to appear. The Evidence is the edited and revised transcript of what is said before a committee. The Minutes of Proceedings are the official record of the business conducted by the committee at a sitting.
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Minutes of Proceedings
Steve Gotch made a statement and, with Wes Shoemaker, answered questions.
Mel Arnold moved, — Whereas the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard has declined five requests from the committee since February 6, 2024, to appear and answer questions on important matters related to her portfolio, that the committee request that the Minister of Fisheries and oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard provide the committee with dates on which she is available to appear three times at the committee to answer questions regarding: 1) the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development's 2023 report on monitoring marine fisheries; 2) main estimates 2024-25, and; the criteria used by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to set redfish fishing quotas.
Debate arose thereon.
Mike Kelloway moved, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words “declined five requests from the committee” with the words "appeared before the committee as often as two previous Conservative fisheries ministers while holding the office for less than a year";
by adding after the word "portfolio" the words "and given that the committee agreed to the subcommittees schedule which includes one additional meeting with the minister";
by adding the following: "and given that Conservative members chose not to ask a single question on supplementary estimates to the minister when she attended committee on the supplementary estimates and, given that the committee underscored the importance of completing important studies"; and
by replacing the words “provide the committee with dates on which she is available to appear three times at the committee to answer questions regarding (1) the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development’s 2023 report on monitoring marine fisheries, (2) main estimates 2024-25, and (3) on the criteria used by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to set redfish fishing quotas” with the words “work with the Chair of the committee to find a suitable time to appear before the committee in alignment with the adopted subcommittee scheduling report, to meet explicitly on the subject agreed upon in the subcommittee report, and so she can surpass the previous two Conservative Fisheries ministers from the Harper era in attendance before the committee”.
Debate arose thereon.
Clifford Small moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.
At 4:17 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 4:19 p.m., the sitting resumed.
The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Mel Arnold, Lisa Marie Barron, Serge Cormier, Caroline Desbiens, Dave Epp, Brendan Hanley, Ken Hardie, Mike Kelloway, Robert J. Morrissey, Rick Perkins, Clifford Small — 11;
NAYS: — 0.
Accordingly, the debate was adjourned.
At 4:24 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 4:27 p.m., the sitting resumed.
Bryce Bekar made a statement and answered questions.
Rick Perkins moved, — That, regarding Minister Diane Lebouthillier's decision to close the legal elver harvest of 2024, the committee finds that: (a) banning legal fishing does not stop poaching; (b) closing the elver fishery has not decreased criminal activity and violence in Nova Scotia as evidenced by the witnesses who have come forward to the committee to detail continued violence and lawlessness in their communities, including arson, assault, and attempted murder; (c) closing the elver fishery has resulted in 1,100 job losses, harming rural Nova Scotian communities and the fishing industry as a whole, when Canadians are struggling with a cost-of-living crisis created by this government; and (d) that current DFO and RCMP enforcement efforts allocated by the Minister remain insufficient and have not put a halt to the violence or poaching; and, given these findings, the committee therefore agrees to report these findings to the House, and call on the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to immediately re-open the elver fishery.
Debate arose thereon.
Mike Kelloway moved, — That the motion be amended by replacing the words in subparagraph (a) with the words “the elver fishery is a unique public safety and law enforcement environment with considerations including Indigenous treaty rights to fish that complicate attempts to stop unauthorized fishing”;
by deleting subparagraph (b);
by deleting the words "created by this government" in subparagraph (c);
by replacing the words in subparagraph (d) with the words “the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and the provincial ministers of public safety, justice, and fisheries and aquaculture, are working hard and in collaboration across jurisdiction to ensure that public safety is maintained in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick this elver season”; and,
by replacing the words “and call on the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard, to immediately re-open the elver fishery” with the words “that this committee call on the government to accelerate the adoption of new regulations for the elver fishery so that the 2025 season can open as scheduled”.
A point of order was raised as to the procedural acceptability of the proposed motion.
RULING BY THE CHAIR
The Chair ruled the amendment admissible.
Whereupon Mel Arnold appealed the decision of the Chair.
The question “Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?” was put and the decision of the Chair was sustained on the following recorded division:
YEAS: Serge Cormier, Brandan Hanley, Ken Hardie, Mike Kelloway, Robert J. Morrissey – 5
NAYS: Mel Arnold, Dave Epp, Rick Perkins, Clifford Small, Lisa Marie Barron – 5
Accordingly, the decision of the Chair was sustained.
The debate on the amendment continued.
At 5:34 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.