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| New Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has some new instructions to follow from the Prime Minister, with a revised mandate letter issued in late August |
As the summer of 2018 was coming to an end the Prime Minister was busy revising some of the mandates for members of his cabinet, with newly installed Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson among those to receive the new guidelines for his work in cabinet.
The letter which was released on August 28th features twelve key elements for the months ahead, most of them related to the Liberal governments Ocean Protection Plan and other environmental issues related to the marine environment.
In his preamble to the duties ahead, Mr. Trudeau makes note of the Liberal's goal to address some of the challenges facing the middle class and how the government needs to show a willingness to listen, the latter a theme that at times Skeena-Bulkly Valley MP Nathan Cullen has suggested is not the Liberal governments strongest feature.
If we are to tackle the real challenges we face as a country – from a struggling middle class to the threat of climate change – Canadians need to have faith in their government’s honesty and willingness to listen. I expect that our work will be informed by performance measurement, evidence, and feedback from Canadians. We will direct our resources to those initiatives that are having the greatest, positive impact on the lives of Canadians, and that will allow us to meet our commitments to them. I expect you to report regularly on your progress toward fulfilling our commitments and to help develop effective measures that assess the impact of the organizations for which you are answerable.
To deliver on those themes for Canadians, the Fisheries and Oceans portfolio has a fairly expansive list of goals and ambitions ahead, of note from the mandate letter for the West Coast were:
Work with the Ministers of Transport, Natural Resources, and Environment and Climate Change to formalize the moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic on British Columbia’s North Coast, including the Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait, and Queen Charlotte Sound.
Continue to act on recommendations of the Cohen Commission on restoring sockeye salmon stocks in the Fraser River and develop a broader strategy to protect Pacific salmon. Work with the Government of British Columbia to secure a healthy future for Pacific salmon, with concrete deliverables by 2019, the International Year of the Salmon.
Work with the Ministers of Transport, Environment and Climate Change, and Natural Resources to implement and further develop the Oceans Protection Plan. With the world’s longest coastline, Canada must have a world-leading plan to protect it and marine species at risk. Pursue additional initiatives working with provinces, territories, Indigenous Peoples and Canadians to better co-manage our three ocean coasts.
Work with the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility to renew the Coast Guard fleet by outfitting it with the vessels that will allow it to continue carrying out its mission of ensuring the safety of Canada’s navigable waters, maintain commercial shipping routes, defend Canada’s sovereignty, and support scientific exploration.
One passage from the new mandate letter for Mr. Wikinson should catch the eye of UFAWU-Unifor President and City of Prince Rupert councillor Joy Thorkelson is a direction to explore initiatives and create good middle class jobs from the fishery.
Develop new and innovative approaches to modernize fisheries and aquaculture and responsible economic development on all three coasts. This should include initiatives that create and sustain good middle class jobs, leverage new technologies, and ensure the long-term sustainability of Canada’s oceans economy.
That portion of the ministers mandate could provide for some room for Ms. Thorkelson to continue to stress her concerns over the local fishery on the North Coast and the call from UFAWU for adjaceny in the North Coast fishery to protect and create those jobs that the Prime Minister mentions.
As well, the new to do list for the Minister may be of interest to Skeena Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen, who has been busy calling attention to the ongoing issues of the North Coast fishery and most recently highlighted how the West Coast fishery is not receiving the same economic assistance as that on the East coast.
"Once again, the West Coast is conveniently forgotten by this government, in particular the North Coast fishing industry and our families who count on the government to make good policy decisions"
"Fishing families equally need, want and deserve a similar 5- week extension, as well as other supports to ensure sufficient hours and earnings to qualify for EI benefits."
The MP may also be able to make use of the fall focus for the Minister to reissue his invitation to the Fisheries Minister to make the trip up to the North Coast to explore the issues in person.
You can review the full Mandate letter for Minister Wilkinson here.
For more items of note on the North Coast Fishery see our archive page here.
A wider overview on Federal issues that impact on the Northwest can be found from our House of Commons archive.
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