  |
|||||
        |
|
With summer just around the corner, and the fishing season well underway throughout the Maritimes and the Gaspé region of Quebec, this is an excellent opportunity to measure the steady progress we have made since the Supreme Court of Canada¹s 1999 decision in the Marshall case. Since the decision, we have been working with Mi'kmaq and Maliseet communities to increase their access to commercial fisheries and give them the tools they need to make that access work ‹ tools like capacity-building, training, and other arrangements. We have also worked closely with non-Aboriginal commercial fishers who wanted to voluntarily retire their licences in order to make room for these new Aboriginal entrants without putting undue pressure on the fishery resource. These measures have resulted in real benefits for many Mi'kmaq and Maliseet people. To build on this success, I joined the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in February to announce the federal government¹s longer-term strategy for responding to the Marshall decision. While DFO is continuing to work with communities affected by the decision on fishery-related issues, Minister Nault is leading a process to address broader Aboriginal and treaty rights issues. Taken together, this two-track approach will provide both immediate benefits and longer-term certainty to First Nations communities in Atlantic Canada. With that announcement, we re-affirmed our commitment to promoting a calm, gradual approach to negotiating fishing agreements with First Nations affected by the Marshall decision. Negotiating agreements takes time. Three-year agreements are especially complex, and require detailed discussions. We are prepared to take whatever time is necessary to reach agreements that are sustainable, practical and, above all, respectful of conservation. This approach is paying off. Federal Fisheries Negotiator, Jim MacKenzie, has been meeting with 30 of the 34 Mi'kmaq and Maliseet communities over the past several months. And so far, we have reached fisheries agreements with five Mi'kmaq and Maliseet communities:
Each Band signed a three-year agreement, with the exception of Pictou Landing First Nation, which signed a one-year agreement. Productive discussions are continuing, and Mr. MacKenzie is currently in active negotiations with 25 other Bands. But as I have said all along, we are not operating under any artificially imposed deadline to reach these agreements. In fact, many communities that have not yet negotiated new agreements with Mr. MacKenzie are now fishing peacefully, under communal licences, within the commercial season, taking advantage of the increased access that was provided to them last year. In keeping with this constructive approach, we are also finding innovative ways to continue building bridges between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. The ongoing work of non-Native fishermen to mentor and train Aboriginal fishers is an excellent example of what can be achieved through good will and co-operation among all resource users. To continue building on this foundation, my department is facilitating a number of meetings between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal fishers in the area. In addition, we are pleased to be working with the Maritime Fishermen¹s Union to implement their suggestion that I appoint a Director of Community and Fisheries Relations in Richibucto to improve relationships between Native and non-Native communities. My department will consider a similar position in Neguac in the near future. In fact, from the beginning, we have recognized that the needs of non-Aboriginal resource users must also be addressed in our work to respond to the Marshall decision. That is why I also established an Industry Advisory Committee to advise my department on the Licence Retirement Program, which is helping us to make room for Aboriginal participants in the commercial fishery. Chaired by Gilles Thériault, Associate Federal Fisheries Negotiator, the Committee is a valuable forum for non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal members of the fishing industry to provide advice directly to my department on ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Licence Retirement Program. Clearly, co-operative initiatives like these will be the cornerstone of the orderly, inclusive and conservation-based fishery we want to build together in the years ahead. Indeed, conservation depends on co-operation. And it depends on leadership. I know I must play a leadership role in this regard. In fact, the Supreme Court of Canada made it clear that responsibility for conservation "is placed squarely on the Minister and not on the aboriginal or non-aboriginal users of the resource." I intend to uphold that responsibility, and continue working with Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and non-Aboriginal fishers towards our shared goal of a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable Atlantic fishery. |
|||