Tag Archives: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
YEAH!!! Newfoundland fish harvesters crash news conference to demand reinstating of cod moratorium
Fish harvesters in Newfoundland crashed the podium at a meeting of Canada’s environment ministers in St. John’s on Wednesday, demanding a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the federal government’s decision to reopen the commercial cod fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador. Moments before the start of the news conference, which was to detail two days of meetings of the Canadian Council of Environment Ministers, Newfoundland and Labrador Environment Minister Bernard Davis was interrupted by a loud siren. Glen Winslow, a St. John’s fish harvester, then walked up to meet Davis at the podium from a group of around 15 protesters. “Sorry we got to do this, my buddy, but this is too important to Newfoundland and Labrador,” Winslow said to Davis over the news conference’s microphone while the other ministers watched on. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 17:43
Accused poachers ‘cannot pretend to hide,’ says province’s top court
New Brunswick’s highest court has shed light on an important decision it made in a lawsuit against alleged poachers accused of stealing baby eels. The Court of Appeal delivered its reasons late last month why it had ordered the province’s registrar of motor vehicles to turn over the names of 115 vehicle owners to Rothesay businesswoman Mary Ann Holland, the owner of Brunswick Aquaculture Limited and Alder Seafood Limited. Her lawyer Barry Morrison argued in a filing last month that Holland and her staff had witnessed dozens of people illegally catching lucrative baby eels in river estuaries in the spring of 2023 after Ottawa had closed the fishery. more, >>click to read<< 07:53
Mi’kmaw fishers say DFO officers left them to walk for hours at night after seizing boots, phones
Two Mi’kmaw elver fishermen say they were forced to walk in sock feet for hours along a rural Nova Scotia highway in the middle of the night last week after they were detained by federal fisheries officers who took their boots and phones before releasing them. Blaise Sylliboy and Kevin Hartling, who assert they have a treaty right to fish for the lucrative baby eels despite this year’s season being cancelled, were joined Tuesday morning by dozens of protesters outside the Department of Fisheries and Oceans building in Dartmouth, N.S. “When we were walking, there’s times I’m like, ‘Man, if we stop, we’re going to die,’ because our feet were just soaked,” said Hartling. more, >>click to read<< 06:22
Seal hunt advocate takes issue with EU president’s claim that Indigenous exemptions are working
The European Union’s ban on seal products did not feature heavily — if at all — during discussions between Canadian and European leaders on Friday in St. John’s, but one comment made during a news conference has drawn the ire of a group that advocates for seal harvesters. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters she believes the exemption for Indigenous sealers is going well. Doug Chiasson, executive director of the Fur Institute of Canada, was taken aback by her comments. The biggest issue, according to Chiasson, is that the 2009 ban destroyed the existing market for seal products in Europe. When the Indigenous exemption was introduced in 2015, he said, there was no longer a market for the products. >>click to read<< 13:52
Sealing industry protests lack of talks on EU ban at summit in N.L.
Implemented by the EU in 2009, the trade ban on seal products, based on ethical concerns, deprived thousands of seal hunters in Eastern Canada of their most important market. The sealing industry, whose biggest footprint is in Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador, has never recovered. Gil Thériault, the head of the association representing Quebec’s seal hunters, said planning two days of bilateral meetings in Newfoundland and Labrador, “the very place Ottawa abandoned,” and not bringing up the seal products ban “sends a message of complete disregard for people in coastal communities.” According to groups representing seal hunters and processors, the EU embargo is the result of an extremely effective lobbying campaign from animal-rights groups, who depicted the hunt as an inhumane slaughter. Sealers say that’s false and that the hunt is sustainable and conducted without cruelty. >>click to read<< 10:53
FFAW Welcomes New Federal Fisheries Minister
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal cabinet shuffle today has announced Diane Lebouthillier as the new Minister for Fisheries and Oceans, replacing the Joyce Murray as the federal head of fisheries management. The Union that represents all inshore fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador looks forward to working with Minister Lebouthillier, hoping for a renewed focus on robust science and economically sustainable management. >click to read< 12:53
Canada Shuts Down 15 Fish Farms in B.C., Citing Risks to Wild Salmon
After years of concerns over the impact of aquaculture on wild sockeye salmon, Canada’s fisheries department has decided not to renew the operating permits of 15 Atlantic salmon farms in an environmentally sensitive area of British Columbia. In a news release, Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray noted that B.C.’s salmon runs are in “serious, long-term decline,” and some are at risk of collapse if action is not taken. Ten years have passed since the Cohen commission’s report, and more recent research indicates that the diseases associated with salmon-farming may have an impact on wild salmon in general and on Fraser River salmon smolts in particular. >click to read< 16:00
SEA-NL renews call for improved search and rescue for Labrador, federal inquiry into fishing vessel safety
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) joins in the renewed call for more search and rescue resources for Labrador and a federal inquiry into fishing vessel safety — encouraging other stakeholders like the FFAW-Unifor to do the same. “Safety at sea is a life-and-death issue that demands all hands on deck,” says Merv Wiseman, a member of SEA-NL’s board of directors, and an outspoken advocate for search and rescue/fishing vessel safety. “The lives of mariners off Labrador are as important as the lives of mariners off Newfoundland, and search and rescue resources must reflect that.” >click to read< 21:03
A seafood processor from the Îles-de-la-Madeleine in serious financial difficulty
With an estimated debt of between $3.5 million and $4 million to its lobster fishermen, the Madelinan seafood processing company LA Renaissance des Îles (LRDI) has decided to place itself under the protection of the Act respecting the ‘insolvency. This is what the president and CEO and sole shareholder, Lynn Albert, announced to the fishermen who supply her with lobster, during an information meeting held on Friday morning, learned the QMI Agency. LRDI is in default of payment for its dockside purchases from 66 fishermen for the last two weeks of the 2022 fishing season, totaling $3.7 million. Added to this are, among other things, deductions for government rebates and other operating expenses of fishing businesses. >click to read< 07:34
Trudeau launches expanded oceans protection plan, with aim to reach more regions
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced new details about the federal government’s $3.5-billion plan to protect the oceans and boost coast guard facilities on the world’s longest national coastline. In its most recent budget, the government pledged to add $2 billion over nine years to the $1.5 billion already set aside for ocean protection. Speaking at a news conference on Bowen Island, B.C., Trudeau said the government had now launched an extended version of the Oceans Protection Plan. Initiatives already funded by the program include the opening of six coast guard stations in British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador, establishing an Indigenous-led coast guard auxiliary in B.C., the restoration of coastal aquatic habitats, and the removal and disposal of hundreds of abandoned boats. >click to read< 15:56
SEA-NL calls for public inquiry into fishing vessel safety, search and rescue
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador is calling for a joint, federal/provincial commission of inquiry into fishing vessel safety, and search and rescue response in this province to investigate why incidents and deaths at sea are on the rise. “There is no greater indictment of serious, systemic problems with fishing vessel safety and search and rescue than the rise in mariner deaths,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director. “Fishing is already one of the most dangerous occupations in the world without lax government oversight increasing those risks.” > click to read < 13:30
Trip limits must be addressed in Newfoundland and Labradors snow crab fishery
SEA-NL is demanding Premier Andrew Furey address trip limits in the snow crab fishery or his government may have blood on its hands before the end of the fishing season. “The inshore fleet has one of the most dangerous jobs without trip limits adding to the risk,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL. “Trip limits put pressure on enterprise owners — who are also dealing with the threat of a price drop, and fishery closures in the case of molting or soft-shell crab — to fish in weather they would not ordinarily fish in,” he said. “If government stands idly by and lives are lost this crab fishing season the province will have to answer for them directly.” >click to read< 15:09
The Federal Competition Act
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to include fish pricing in the Federal Competition Act with planned amendments to the legislation. “The only industry in Canada excluded from the Federal Competition Act is the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery, and the inshore fleet pays the price in terms of less money for their fish,” says Ryan Cleary, Executive Director of SEA-NL. In the federal budget released earlier this month, the Trudeau government revealed plans to make amendments to toughen Canadian competition laws. >click to read< 15:42
SEA-NL calls for third-party investigation into DFO NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to order an independent investigation of the operations of the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans in the province amid alarming allegations of political interference raised by the CBC. “DFO’s last shred of credibility in this province is on the line,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director. “The allegations by the union representing DFO scientists not only call into question the department’s faith in itself, but what little faith inshore harvesters and all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have left in DFO to manage the wild commercial fisheries.” >click to read< 10:48
Should the next fisheries minister come from central Canada?
On election night, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first cabinet casualty came early as Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan tumbled to defeat in Nova Scotia’s South Shore, St. Margarets riding. Her defeat means her successor will inherit the unresolved dispute over Nova Scotia’s Indigenous moderate livelihood lobster fishery. And that potentially means a clean slate for negotiations between all parties involved. And the chief of the band at the centre of that fishery says maybe the best way to establish that clean slate would be to enlist a fisheries minister from the interior, rather than the coasts, where they would be exposed to the pressures of their community. >click to read< 20:33
Lobster dispute is the culmination of government inaction
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: “There remains no more important relationship to me and to Canada than the one with Indigenous peoples.”,,, Imagine the thrilling new drama, Lobster Trap, inspired by real events and probably starring Colm Feore as the determined but nice RCMP inspector, uncovering plots at the Digby Legion and facing down Lefty, the powerful Nova Scotia lobster mobster whose left hand is twice as big as his right. There is the wise and wily Mi’kmaq chief. There is Margaret, the love interest, who manages the day shift at Tim Hortons while rocking her hairnet. The intrigue builds to a dangerous but delicious lobster boil. By Monte Solberg, >click to read< 12:33
He had hoped to help end Nova Scotia fishery tensions, but now this union leader feels he just has to step down
It’s an ebb tide; in the afternoon sun in the Acadian fishing village of Meteghan, the Salt Shaker hangs low on the wharf. It seems appropriate. Comeau’s resignation has scuttled one of the few potential bright spots in a tumultuous week in southwestern Nova Scotia’s lobster fishery conflict; the hope that talks between him and Sipekne’katik chief, Mike Sack, might be the first steps towards a solution to the battle between Indigenous and non-Indigenous fishers.“ Now, the planned talks are dead, and the conflict that has torn the fishing community apart has no end in sight. >click to read< 08:18
N.S. fishermen’s union head quits, says lobster dispute is ‘too much of a toll’ on his family – Joel Comeau says it’s no longer safe for him to be the president of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union Local 9 in Nova Scotia. Comeau stepped down Friday ahead of a planned meeting with Sipekne’katik First Nation Chief Mike Sack to discuss the increasingly tense dispute between commercial and Mi’kmaw lobster fishermen in the province. >click to read< 10:44
Trudeau defends federal response as threats escalate over Mi’kmaw fishery in Nova Scotia
“We are expecting the RCMP and police services to do their jobs and keep people safe,” Trudeau said. On Thursday, the chief of the Sipekne’katik First Nation urged Trudeau to step in and make sure those involved in the violence are prosecuted. The vice-president of a fishermen’s union in Nova Scotia has stepped down, citing fears for his family’s safety as threats from some non-Indigenous fishermen opposed to a self-regulated Mi’kmaw lobster fishery continue to escalate. Joel Comeau, a former member of the Local 9 of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union, was supposed to meet with Sack on Friday morning but abruptly cancelled the meeting. Comeau said he’s received “a lot of flak from my people and a lot of intimidation” over his willingness to work with Sack to find a way forward. “This community is out of hand. This community feels unsafe,” said Comeau. >click to read< 16:00
Fish Harvesters Benefit: Feds pledge nearly $470m to fish harvesters – Trudeau urges consumers to ‘buy Canadian’
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday (May 14) the launch of the Fish Harvesters Benefit. The new initiative is aimed at harvesters facing a 25% drop in income in the face of the pandemic, covering up to 75% of losses up to a maximum of $10,000. Additional non-repayable grants for fish harvesters who own their own business are also being made available. The prime minister said changes would be made for Employment Insurance claims in 2021, allowing benefits to be based on income from previous years. >click to read< 16:22
Trudeau urges consumers to ‘buy Canadian’ as government pledges $470M for fisheries – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is urging people to “buy 
Canadian” food to keep fishery workers and farmers in business during the novel coronavirus pandemic. “To everyone who wants to show their support, buy Canadian. Pick up some Canadian cheese to help a local dairy farmer, have a ‘fish fry, or buy Canadian lobster,” he said today during his daily press conference. “Not only will it taste great, it will help the people who keep food on our plates.” >click to read<
Trudeau pledges $62.5M for fish and seafood sector amid mounting food supply concerns
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced $62.5 million for Canada’s fish and seafood sector amid mounting concerns over the state of the country’s food supply.,, Keith Sullivan, president of Fish, Food and Allied Workers, a trade union representing 15,000 workers in Newfoundland and Labrador, called the financial relief “encouraging”. “Harvesters from all of Atlantic Canada right across to B.C. have been looking for some relief since the pandemic began,” Sullivan.,, Federal Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan said in a Saturday news conference that help for harvesters is on its way. >click to read< 14:00
Coronavirus: Canada to help all businesses with revenue loss of 30% or more
A Canadian program to help businesses pay wages during the coronavirus outbreak applies to all enterprises and charities with a revenue loss of 30% or more, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday. Trudeau, who said last week that Ottawa would cover up to 75% of the wages of people working for small and medium enterprises, made clear the aid would not depend on business size. It will be capped at C$847 ($596) a week per worker. The announcement marks the latest move by the Liberal government to intensify the fight against the coronavirus and COVID-19, the disease it causes. >click to read< 16:47
Fisheries Minister Jordan to oversee fisheries, coast guard in new federal cabinet
Nova Scotia’s Bernadette Jordan has retained a place in Justin Trudeau’s cabinet. But Jordan, the lone Nova Scotia-based MP in the group, has been assigned new duties. The representative for South Shore-St. Margaret’s will head the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, as well as oversee the work of the Canadian Coast Guard. >click to read< 17:33
Fish farmers are upset by proposal by Canada’s ruling Liberal Party to ban all open net salmon farming in British Columbia by 2025.
The pledge, supported by various political groups in the province, has now been accepted as official future policy by the Liberals, led by Justin Trudeau, Canada’s controversial Prime Minister. Yesterday, the CAIA, together with its regional counterparts, including the BC Salmon Farmers Association and groups on the Atlantic coast, issued a statement rejecting the proposal. Timothy Kennedy, president and CEO of the CAIA, said: ‘The Liberal platform commitment to moving all salmon production in British Columbia to ‘closed containment by 2025’ is highly irresponsible,,, >click to read< 08:36
Liberal promise to end open-pen salmon farms in B.C. making waves on East Coast – >click to read< 10:23
Federal Liberals treat East Coast fishery as ‘second class’; move to ban at-sea fish farms off BC, but not eastern Canada? – >click to read< 16:01
‘LeBlanc must go.’ FISH-NL demands Prime Minister fire Dominic LeBlanc from cabinet for violating conflict of interest rules
The Federation of Independent Sea Harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador (FISH-NL) is demanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fire MP Dominic LeBlanc from the federal cabinet for breaking conflict of interest rules when he was minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Further, Premier Dwight Ball and the province’s seven Members of Parliament should be unanimous in demanding LeBlanc’s immediate dismissal. “LeBlanc broke conflict of interest rules by awarding a lucrative licence to fish arctic surf clams to a company that was set to be run by his wife’s cousin — a decision that would have seen resource and jobs leave our province,” says Ryan Cleary, President of FISH-NL. “LeBlanc’s conflict of interest as Fisheries and Oceans minister amounts to the highest act of treason against our province and people. Not only should the Prime Minister fire him, but the Premier and all seven MPs need to be loud, clear, and unanimous in saying, ‘LeBlanc must go.’ Anything less would be traitorous to our province.” >click to read<14:05
Controversial arctic surf clam decision stays as new federal Fisheries Minister outlines his vision for DFO
A controversial arctic surf clam decision will not be revisited under new federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson. Wilkinson became the head of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) on July 18, being shuffled into cabinet by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Previous to his cabinet appointment, Wilkinson was parliamentary secretary to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna. His area of focus was how to save caribou herds across the country. Wilkinson says there’s no need to view the environment and the economy as two different things. >click to read<
Tories ask ethics commissioner to probe fishery bid they say favours Liberal insiders
A Conservative MP is asking the federal ethics commissioner to investigate the bidding process that awarded a lucrative Arctic surf clam license to a group with Liberal links. In his letter to Mario Dion, the newly appointed ethics watchdog, Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty alleges the government’s effort to diversify ownership in the fishery — by clawing back part of an existing quota held by Clearwater Foods and handing it to a group with Indigenous representation — violates the Commons conflict of interest code because it enriches the brother of a sitting Liberal MP and a former Liberal MP.>click to read< 12:57
What Trudeau needs to do to become Canada’s first ‘Oceans Prime Minister’
Last January, The Atlantic magazine named Barack Obama “America’s Ocean President” for protecting a larger ocean area than any former commanders-in-chief. Does that make Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Canada’s “Oceans Prime Minister?” This could indeed be his legacy if he and his fellow ocean champion, Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc, can maintain the momentum they’ve created on ocean protection, deliver on upholding the inherent jurisdiction of Indigenous nations and let divisive — and potentially catastrophic — pipeline and oil tanker projects die a natural death. Here are five things that Canada did right this year — and a few things for Trudeau to work on in 2018. click here to read the story 12:05
CETA: Liberals’ passivity a detriment to our fishery
The Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) was approved with Premier Dwight Ball and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in office. So, what was negotiated to transition our fishing industry to a more competitive, technologically advanced, scientific and market-driven industry? Apparently, according to Premier Ball, nothing! An area of provincial jurisdiction was relinquished to Ottawa to use in their negotiations with the EU, with only silence from the Ball Liberals for the past 15 months, despite a signed letter from Trudeau promising that this province would be given a $400-million fisheries investment fund as a condition of giving up minimum processing requirements (MPRs). There was no mention of an “Atlantic” fisheries fund in his letter.In 2014, Trudeau wrote: “your government’s support of the CETA was earned, in part, by a promise from the Government of Canada to help the industry adjust to the new reality. That promise should be honoured.” He referred specifically to the $400-million fund for Newfoundland and Labrador. Premier Ball was not able to deliver on that written commitment. continue reading the op-ed here 10:18
Dominic LeBlanc shuns ‘part-time’ label, talks of future legacy as fisheries minister
Dominic LeBlanc spoke Wednesday about the legacy he hopes to leave as fisheries minister, a signal his appointment may not be as short-term as some of his critics have suggested. LeBlanc, who also works as government house leader, was appointment as minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard in a surprise announcement came last week, after the abrupt resignation of Hunter Tootoo. Tootoo resigned from cabinet and left the Liberal caucus to seek treatment for addiction issues, after what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said was a “very difficult situation.” “As some of you know, I have been on this job now for eight days,” LeBlanc said in his opening remarks at the launch of a national summit in Ottawa to mark World Oceans Day. He said that he hopes 40 years from now, “the legacy for me … is defined by the work that I can do with all of you on protecting and preserving our oceans, the ecosystems in our oceans, and leaving a legacy and a footprint that would inspire the people in this room and those whom you represent.” Read the story here 14:35
Trudeau Comments On Moderate Livelihood Fisheries
The Prime Minister says the federal government continues to work on implementing moderate livelihood fisheries with Indigenous communities. Justin Trudeau says reconciliation is important, but the fishery needs to be done right. “We’ve been engaged in very very close dialogue, both with commercial fishers and Indigenous communities to establish the right path forward,” >click to read< 09:23
Share this post