Bill C-251

Conservation of Fish Stocks and Management of Pinnipeds Act

An Act respecting the development of a federal framework on the conservation of fish stocks and management of pinnipeds

This enactment requires the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to develop a federal framework on the conservation of fish stocks and management of pinnipeds.

The Economy

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I find that a bit rich coming from my colleague from Long Range Mountains, who voted against Bill C-251, against the seal industry, against the fishing industry and against the people in her very own riding.

Back to the matter at hand, 45% of people back home have an inadequate standard of living, 35% have a severely inadequate standard of living and 26% are experiencing food insecurity.

After nine years, will the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, who is not worth the hunger and not worth the homelessness, axe the tax and listen to the premiers back home?

Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from the Bloc for voting for my bill, Bill C-251, to bring in a pinniped management solution, which the NDP-Liberals all voted against.

I feel sorry for the Bloc members, with all the work they put into their amendments just for them to be all shot down, as were ours. I also feel sorry for the people in this country and from Quebec who think that we are going to have a dollar to buy something with. Chief economists say, without the petroleum industry in Canada, Canada would have a 37¢ dollar against the U.S. dollar. What would that do to inflation? What would that do to buying power? What would that do to the price of groceries?

We would be destroying the number one export that Canada has. We would destroy that industry, destroy our currency, destroy families and pocketbooks and wipe everything out here.

Carbon Pricing

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell this House what she supports. She supports seals in rivers. She did not vote for Bill C-251.

Food bank usage at Memorial University in St. John's has nearly tripled since last year. Groceries have increased. Students and families cannot afford them, thanks to the carbon tax. Christmas is not far away and many folks cannot afford Christmas dinner this year. After eight years, the NDP-Liberal government is not worth the cost.

Will the Prime Minister cancel his plan to quadruple the tax on families, first nations and farmers?

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

With respect to the minister's vote on Bill C-251, does she think she voted the way the people of Îles-de-la-Madeleine would have wanted her to vote? The bill was to create a framework for the management of pinnipeds—seals.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Thank you.

With respect to Bill C-251, which would have developed a framework for the management of seals, does the minister think the fishing industry in Gaspé and Îles-de-la-Madeleine is against managing seal populations?

Did she vote with her constituents, or was there another reason for her voting against that legislation?

Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Madam Speaker, I do not know what to think of that. That is unbelievable and disgusting. I am glad that once in a while we can agree with the Bloc members a bit. I thank them for one particular time when they did agree with us and voted for my bill, Bill C-251. I really appreciate that.

On another point, they always disagree with me on Bay du Nord, but respectfully, we all try to get along and I thank my hon. colleague for the question.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I heard Mr. Cleary say that the seals were studied to death, but it hasn't really brought down the population, so there wasn't much death to it.

Would we have to be here today, doing this study, if Bill C-251 had passed? What do you think, Mr. Cleary?

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to all the witnesses, in particular the witnesses from beautiful Vancouver Island. Welcome.

First, I want to make clear, and I can only speak for myself, of course, that I'm very much in support of sustainable seal harvesting and did not support Bill C-251. I want to point out that the two don't necessarily go hand in hand.

I'm looking at a proposal here from 2018. It's quite a while ago now, and before I was in this position. Can you share a bit what you are proposing? What happens around a seal harvest on the west coast?

[Ken Pearce, President, Pacific Balance Pinniped Society]

Thank you very much for inviting us here. It's been a long wait to get before people on the east coast who understand our problems. I'm going to give a brief outline of what we've done here, and Matt will follow up.

I'm going to start off with the risk of not dealing with pinnipeds versus what Dr. Trites came on with.

One is the loss of salmon stocks. The collapse of our salmon stocks means the collapse of our coastal ecosystem. Whales, eagles, pinnipeds, sea birds, bears, diving ducks, otters and a host of others depend on salmon for their subsistence. No spawners means a dead river, as the spawned out salmon are vital in providing fertilizer to the system that feeds the aquatic plants, which provide the food that the young fry, trout and steelhead depend on.

Two is the collapse of our $1-billion-plus sports fishing industry.

Three is the collapse of what little remains of our commercial fisheries done by indigenous and non-indigenous fishers.

Four, which I think you're all sensitive to, is a very real threat to section 35.

What is Pacific Balance Pinniped Society? It's a group dedicated to bringing the pinniped populations on our B.C. coast back into historical balance through a controlled, well-managed harvest over time. Our group includes the following: 115 first nations, UFAWU-Unifor, B.C. Wildlife Federation and many of the other local sports fishing clubs. This group represents well over 700,000 supporters.

Also of note, thanks to Clifford Small, Rick Perkins and 152 MPs who voted in support of Bill C-251. I think it would be fair to say that this represents well over 15 million Canadians in support.

I will give bullet points on the science supporting a harvest and will back that up with written support, as requested.

Number one, 40% to 50% of outbound chinook smolts are consumed in the Salish Sea as they emerge from the rivers. Sixty per cent of coho and steelhead smolts suffer the same fate.

B.C. pinnipeds consume 350,000 metric tons of finfish annually. To put that into perspective, that equates to approximately 7,000 fully loaded seine boats.

Of the above consumption, 135,000 metric tons are Pacific herring. That equates to approximately 2,700 fully loaded seine boats. This year's allowable total harvest for the Strait of Georgia for the seines was 2,600 tonnes, equal to approximately 52 loaded seine boats.

At the north end of Vancouver Island, 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 returning adult Fraser River sockeye are consumed by sea lions alone as they school up for their journey down the Johnstone Strait. Economic loss at $10 per fish is $15 million.

Studies on the Columbia River show that sea lions consume three to five returning adult chinook per lion per day. At 10,000 lions, that equates to—

Telecommunications Act

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure that sending this bill to committee will make some improvements. It is unfortunate that my bill, Bill C-251, did not get the opportunity to get to committee and get improved. My hon. colleague is quite aware of the ill consequences of not allowing legislation to get to committee and to be improved, to seal the deal and have positive outcomes for all Canadians.

Conservation of Fish Stocks and Management of Pinnipeds Act

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

It being 3:18 p.m., pursuant to order made on Thursday, November 25, 2021, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-251 under Private Members' Business.

Call in the members.

During the taking of the vote:

The House resumed from June 8 consideration of the motion that Bill C-251, An Act respecting the development of a federal framework on the conservation of fish stocks and management of pinnipeds, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

If I said that Mr. Young had been misleading, what I in fact meant to say was that the group that Mr. Young is representing misled MPs by insinuating that Bill C-251 is calling for a cull. There's no such clause in that bill. I just saw an email that went to MPs. I don't know why it didn't come to me, but it went to MPs from the David Suzuki Foundation.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

I have a question for Mr. Young about an email that went around to all MPs stating that Bill C-251 was asking for a cull. Can you tell us which clause in that bill is asking for a cull?

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleagues for engaging in this very important debate on the future of balance and biodiversity in our ocean ecosystems and the impact that it has on the coastal and indigenous groups who rely on them.

Since the 1970s, pinniped populations have risen exponentially on the east and west coasts of Canada as harvesting virtually ended. The indigenous communities that relied on selling pinniped products saw their markets disappear as a result of foreign sanctions on Canadian seal products and witnessed the destruction of their way of life. As pinniped populations rose, commercial and sport fishers took vast conservation measures, and in fact completely stopped harvesting some species, such as Atlantic salmon and northern cod. These conservation measures have not worked, because pinnipeds know no seasons and have few natural predators.

In Atlantic Canada, for example, Canadian science says that seals consume 24 times the total commercial yearly catch. Norwegian science suggests seals consume double that amount. Seal populations in Atlantic Canada total over 10 million; once, that figure was less than two million. Seals now live in our estuaries, waiting to clean out what is left of our struggling Atlantic salmon.

On the west coast of Canada, seal and sea lion populations have increased tenfold. These populations now consume 50% of young salmon and steelhead as they enter the ocean and millions of returning adults every year. This destroys the livelihoods of indigenous fishers, the vast sport fishing industry and the commercial fishery. Even southern resident killer whales that rely on salmon to survive and feed their young are being out-competed for food.

Bill C-251, an act respecting the development of a federal framework on the conservation of fish stocks and management of pinnipeds, is meant to address these issues and help restore balance by managing pinniped populations. With indigenous involvement, we can educate the world about the ecological and cultural disaster that is taking place. The framework that gets developed under this bill will ensure that the government works to break down trade barriers to our products so that we can harvest pinnipeds and have full utilization to supply healthy protein, oil and eco-friendly clothing to world markets.

I have listened to questions and concerns raised by my parliamentary colleagues regarding aspects of Bill C-251 and I am open to amendments when this bill gets to committee. Some have suggested that this bill could result in a cull. There is no language in this bill calling for a cull, but at committee the language can be firmed up to ensure this.

Others have mentioned they do not like the clause about anti-predator mechanisms. That clause can go.

The minister said she cannot support the bill because the yearly cost of the census will be over $30 million. The clause calling for a yearly census can be amended out of this bill as well.

A minister from my province recently said that harvesting seals could lead to sanctions against our seafood products; Norway hunts seals and whales and is the second-largest supplier of seafood to the U.S. market, but activists mislead our politicians to believe that if we harvest pinnipeds, we will be sanctioned. Right now Russia is pumping unsanctioned crab into that very same market, so we should have no fear of hollow-threat sanctions.

Another MP told me I should be happy that this bill has raised awareness, that the minister has committed to another study and a conference, and that the bill is not needed now. Awareness will not restore indigenous livelihoods or return balance to our oceans.

Governments come and go. They make promises to take action, to complete more science and the like, but indigenous and fishing industry stakeholders have witnessed the results of years of empty promises, inaction and lack of direction in pinniped management.

Our coastal and indigenous communities are counting on all members of this House to support this bill at second reading so that they can come to the table and fine-tune it at committee. The framework it would create would restore our culture, our livelihoods and the biodiversity of our oceans, and bring this ecological disaster to an end.

I encourage all members of this House to put party politics aside and vote for the greater good of all our coastal and indigenous communities.