Questions and responses 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to Fisheries and Oceans Canada: (a) between March 15, 2026, and April 15, 2026, how many Fisheries and Oceans Canada mandated, authorized or chartered flights were flown over ice flows in Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization areas 2GHJ, 3K and 4RST; (b) what were the date and flight path of each such flight; (c) what observations of seals were made on each flight, including the species, numbers and locations; and (d) why is the data in (c) no longer being proactively provided to the sealing industry?

With regard to Fisheries and Oceans Canada's publication of the report Four Wind Energy Areas in the Offshore of Nova Scotia: A Description of the Primary Marine Ecosystem Features, Significant and Protected Areas, At-risk and Depleted Species, Fish and Fisheries, Science Surveys, and Other Human Uses that May Occur In and Around the French Bank, Middle Bank, Sable Island Bank, and Sydney Bight Areas, in the Canadian Manuscript Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 3312: (a) why did Fisheries and Oceans Canada issue the production of this report; (b) who requested the report be made; (c) what were the objectives related to producing such a report; (d) what amount of time and human resources were used to generate the report; (e) why was this report not released before the political announcement of Offshore Wind development for the Scotian shelf; (f) why was this report not peer reviewed by other branches within the department, including the Science and Fisheries Management branches; (g) why did the authors use fishing industry data in the report but not consult the fishing industry; (h) why does the report omit analysis of Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Integrated Fisheries Management Plans, Recovery Potential Assessments, or Species at Risk Act required recovery strategies for the variety of species listed as depleted (for example, cod in 4VsW/4Vn, white hake, cusk); and (i) what specific decisions have been made by Fisheries and Oceans Canada where this report was used as a reason or consideration?

With regard to the National Search and Rescue Secretariat: (a) how many and which positions have been cut at the secretariat in the past 12 months, overall and broken down by month, and of those positions, which were cut (i) as part of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review, (ii) outside of the review; (b) how many and which positions does the government plan on cutting in the future at the secretariat as part of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review; (c) what is the annual financial value of the planned spending reductions being implemented at the secretariat as part of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review; (d) have any cuts taken place in the past 12 months, or are any future cuts being planned, at the secretariat outside of those included in the Comprehensive Expenditure Review, and, if so, what are the details, including financial values associated with each cut; and (e) what is the breakdown of (a) and (b) by province or territory?

With regard to Fisheries and Oceans Canada's advisory committees: (a) which environmental non-governmental organizations currently have stakeholder status at each of the following stock advisory committees, in all regions, (i) Northern Cod - 2J3KL, (ii) Snow Crab, (iii) Capelin, (iv) Herring, (v) Mackerel, (vi) Greenland Halibut; (b) which environmental non-governmental organizations have had stakeholder status at any point since 2020 at each of the following stock advisory committees, in all regions, (i) Northern Cod - 2J3KL, (ii) Snow Crab, (iii) Capelin, (iv) Herring, (v) Mackerel, (vi) Greenland Halibut; (c) for each organization in (a) and (b), what were the start and end dates of when they had stakeholder status, broken down by committee?

With regard to Fisheries and Oceans Canada: (a) when were the last stock assessments completed for the following species in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization divisions 3L, 3K, 2J, and 2H, (i) Grey Sole, (ii) Redfish, (iii) Greenland Halibut, (iv) Atlantic Halibut, (v) Winter Flounder, (vi) Spotted Wolffish; (b) for each instance in (a), where the last stock assessment was more than a year ago, what are the reasons why there hasn't been a more recent assessment conducted; and (c) when is the next scheduled assessment for each of the species in the specific zones listed above?

With regard to government recognized conservation areas: (a) are areas outside of Canada's 200-mile limit, that are within Canada's continental shelf, eligible to become conservation areas; and (b) if the answer to (a) is affirmative, (i) which areas are currently being analyzed for possible inclusion as a conservation area, (ii) what analysis has been done on each area, (iii) what is the timeline related to any decisions?

With regard to small craft harbours, since 2022: (a) which small craft harbours have applied for funding across Canada; (b) what are the details of each application, including the name of the harbour, the location, the scope and the budget; (c) what is the landed value of catch for each harbour in (b); (d) which harbours had projects approved and what is the scope and amount of federal funding for each; (e) what is the landed value of catch for each harbour in (d); (f) what percentage of each project is complete; (g) which projects are (i) within budget, (ii) over budget; (h) for each project which is over budget, what is the projected cost overrun and the reason for it being over budget; (i) which harbours have "shelf ready" tender documents for projects and what is the estimated cost of each project; (j) what is the landed value of catch for each of the harbours in (i); and (k) how much funding has been diverted from the regular small craft harbours budget, broken down by year and by province, to rebuild or repair as a result of damage from Hurricane Fiona?

With regard to Canadian fish stock assessments and stock advisory committees on commercial species, broken down by specific species: (a) what organizations, stakeholders, First Nations and environmental non-governmental organizations have observer status; (b) what organizations, stakeholders, First Nations and environmental non-governmental organizations have stakeholder status; (c) what is total length of time between when scientific and harvester data is received and when a quota decision is made; (d) what changes in science methodology have been made since 2015; (e) what changes in methodology to incorporate fish harvester logbook data into assessments, outlined by species, have been made since 2015; and (f) what are the net changes in the number of stakeholder seats and environmental non-governmental organizations seats at stock advisory, broken down by species and year since 2015?

With regard to Marine Protected Areas, National Marine Conservation Areas and any other form of ocean protected areas that are now fully protected or at some stage of planning and to be considered part of the 30% by 2030 that Canada agreed to protect in compliance with the 15th Conference of the Parties Biodiversity Convention: (a) what are the details of all existing maps which show ocean protected areas and the reason it became a protected area, including which activities are permitted and which are prohibited currently within each area; (b) what are the details of the maps of all ocean protected areas at all stages of the establishing process, identifying for each stage which stakeholders were consulted; (c) what are the details of all memorandums of understandings or similar types of agreements signed at any stage of the establishment process; (d) for each protected area shown on the maps, what feature, aspect or species will be protected and how will the success of the objective be measured for each area identified; (e) what is the budget to fully implement all areas that are currently under consideration for protection and to fully implement the 30X30 initiative; (f) which groups, organizations, stakeholders, municipalities, environmental non­governmental organizations or First Nations has the government received information about their advocacy for any ocean protected areas that are currently an Area of Interest, an area at any stage of the establishment process, or a fully established protected area, and what changes was each advocating for; (g) what will be the economic cost of stopping or curtailing renewable or non­renewable resource industries from operating in areas that are identified but not yet fully implemented protected areas; (h) what will be the economic benefits in new gross domestic product for areas adjacent to proposed new protected areas, broken down by individual area and amount benefited by region; (i) which of the protected areas will have full or partial Indigenous governance; (j) what is date by which each new area is to become a fully established protected area; and (k) which of the proposed and established protected areas will be approved for installation of offshore wind turbines?

With regard to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, excluding the Canadian Coast Guard, since January 1, 2021: (a) what was the total value of all consulting contracts signed in (i) 2021, (ii) 2022, (iii) 2023, (iv) 2024, (v) 2025 to date; and (b) what are the details of all consulting contracts, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) vendor, (iii) initial value of the contract, (iv) current value of the contract, (v) type of consulting conducted, (vi) start and end dates of work, (vii) purpose of the contract and description of the work completed, (viii) reason for the increase in the contract's value, if applicable?