STATEMENT BY HERB DHALIWAL,
MINISTER OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS
In the months since the Supreme Court's Marshall decision,
the Government of Canada has made a firm and visible commitment to
addressing the decision through dialogue, negotiation, and cooperation.
In my capacity as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, I have tried to
advance a peaceful process of change and to ensure that the channels
of dialogue remain open between the Government and First Nation communities.
For the most part, attempts to engage in discussions have been successful,
thanks to good will and a cooperative spirit on the part of those
involved. In some situations, however, there remains a great deal
to be done to find workable arrangements for addressing First Nations'
fishery access.
In particular, much attention has focused on the Burnt Church First Nation and on the difficulties we have faced in trying to work together. Over the past many months, my Chief Federal Representative, Mr. James MacKenzie, and I have worked hard to get together with representatives of the community at Burnt Church. I did have the opportunity to meet with community representatives from Burnt Church First Nation in the spring. I thought that discussion represented a positive step towards a productive dialogue. On June 7, we tried to meet again, but the Burnt Church First Nation cancelled our scheduled meeting at the last minute. On August 18, Mr. MacKenzie met with the Band's representatives for the first time. And in the days since then, there have been numerous attempts by officials from my Department to talk with representatives of Burnt Church First Nation. Since that time, despite our repeated invitations, we have not been able to sit down and have a discussion.
Most recently, I invited the Band to meet with me in Ottawa. Because this issue is of such fundamental importance, I cleared my calendar for Friday, September 1, to make myself available for such a meeting. I spoke to the Chief and members of his Council and extended this invitation. I appreciated greatly the interest they showed in such a meeting, and was optimistic that we were making steps towards cooperation. At the same time, I remained very aware of my responsibility for stewardship of the fishery resource. I reiterated once again that we could not engage in any meaningful discussion as long as the community's unauthorized fishing continued to increase. As a gesture of good will, and to avoid hardship to the Burnt Church First Nation, I offered to pay the travel costs for the community's representatives to meet with me in Ottawa.
Unfortunately, the Band was not willing to accept this invitation. Moreover, Band representatives have confirmed that they will not limit their unauthorized lobster fishery in any way. In the past two days, we estimate that Burnt Church First Nation has put another several hundred lobster traps into the Bay. And the community has indicated that it intends to escalate that fishing effort in the days ahead.
As I have already stated on many occasions, such circumstances simply do not permit productive dialogue. I am committed to dialogue and negotiation as the only means to resolve the current impasse in Miramichi Bay, but these methods can only succeed with good faith on both sides, and a willingness for both parties to work together. Unilateral, unauthorized fishing is hardly consistent with that ideal.
I remain committed to a peaceful and successful fishery at Burnt Church First Nation. I continue to believe that the way to achieve that goal is through cooperation and dialogue, not confrontation and rhetoric. Mr. MacKenzie is available for discussions at any time. If the unauthorized traps are removed from the Bay, I will be happy to meet with Burnt Church First Nation immediately. Until that time, I must continue to uphold my commitment to an orderly and regulated fishery, and take all action within my power to curtail the unauthorized fishing activity.
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