Question Period Note: Great Lakes Fishery Commission

What is the Government doing to protect the Great Lakes?

• Our Government is committed to preserving our freshwater resources and protecting the Great Lakes from invasive species.
• The Great Lakes Fishery Commission is vital to controlling sea lampreys, conducting scientific research, and maintaining cooperation among Canadian and American agencies to manage and sustain the Great Lakes transboundary fisheries.
• In Budget 2022, the Government announced new funding of $44.9 million over five years, and $9 million ongoing to ensure that Canada meets its international treaty obligations to the commission and for it’s continued success.

• The Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) was established by the 1954 Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries between Canada and the United States of America, with the objective of protecting and sustaining the Great Lakes fishery.
• The 1954 Convention charges the commission with five major duties:
• develop a binational research program aimed at sustaining Great Lakes fish stocks;
• coordinate or conduct research consistent with that program;
• recommend measures to governments that protect and improve the fishery;
• formulate and implement a comprehensive sea lamprey control program; and
• publish or authorize publication of scientific and other information critical to sustaining the fishery.
• The GLFC is made up of eight Commissioners (four each from Canada and the United States [US]) and one US Alternate Commissioner. The GLFC operates under the direction of the Commissioners, and functionally operates independently from government.
• Canada and the US government support the Commission through a cost-sharing arrangement that reflects the distribution of territorial waters and the value of each nation’s fishery. Canada agreed at the inaugural meeting under the 1954 Convention to contribute 31 per cent of funding for the transboundary sea lamprey control work, and 50 per cent of other research and administrative costs (e.g. secretariat/salaries). The US provides the remaining funding.
• As part of Budget 2022 , the Department successfully brought forward a proposal seeking additional incremental funding of $44.9 million over five years and $9 million ongoing for the GLFC, to ensure that Canada meets its bilateral treaty requirement with the US - bringing Canada’s contribution up to over $19 million in 2022 and moving forward. This funding will help to augment Canadian sea lamprey control activities, and support the GLFC’s scientific research and binational fisheries management coordination across the Great Lakes.
• In recent years, the GLFC has been lobbying key stakeholders in the US and Canada, including Members of Parliament (MPs), and US Senators and Representatives, with their request for federal a leadership and responsibility for the GLFC to be moved from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to Global Affairs Canada (GAC).
• DFO and GAC, with support from the Privy Council Office and the Department of Justice, have been assessing the implications of a possible change in federal leadership and fiscal responsibility for the GLFC. The deployment of the sea lamprey control program would presumably remain with DFO, though how it would receive its funding, now and into the future, is less clear. There is complexity to what the GLFC is proposing, splitting functions and authorities related to the GLFC between two portfolios, and also lack of clarity on what it would accomplish.
• On October 20, 2022, two new Commissioners, nominated by the Government of Ontario, were approved by the Governor in Council to represent Canada at the GLFC.
• At its November 4, 2022, meeting, [protected in accordance with the Access to Information Act] thereby providing the necessary authorities to access the funding announced in Budget 2022 for the Department to support the GLFC. The first payment of new funding (~$9.5 million) was made to the Commission in February 2023.
• The GFLC’s 2022 Interim Meeting, originally scheduled for November 30, was postponed as the US Section did not have all of their four Commissioners in place and since Canada’s funding level to the Commission for the upcoming 2023 fiscal year had not been finalized.
• The GLFC Secretariat now has the information it requires to set the budget for the upcoming year and is actively working with Canadian and American Commissioners to schedule the interim meeting.
• Discussions with the Secretariat continue regarding 2023 transfers (which comes from our 23-24 FY) to determine what funding is required for the Sea Lamprey Control Program and to deliver on other important aspects of the GLFC’s mandate.
• On February 22, 2023, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, announced $12.5 million in funding to launch the Ballast Water Innovation Program as part of Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan. The program, which is a central component of the Government of Canada’s efforts to advance the implementation and enforcement of the 2021 Ballast Water Regulations, will play an important role in further reducing the spread of aquatic invasive species in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region by investing in innovative solutions to ballast water management and ensuring these management systems are optimized for unique water environments in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region.
• On September 23, 2022, Terry Duguid, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, announced an investment of more than $3.9 million over three years in thirty-nine new projects in Ontario through the Great Lakes Protection Initiative, part of the Government of Canada’s Freshwater Action Plan. Through the Great Lakes Protection Initiative, the Government of Canada takes action to address the most significant environmental challenges affecting Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health by delivering on Canada’s commitments under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
• On March 27, 2023, MP Epp moved the following Motion at the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, which will be debated at the a future meeting: “Whereas the Department of Fisheries and Oceans appears to be in a structural conflict of interest, conflict of duty situation, concerning their relationship with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission; and whereas the Department of Fisheries and Oceans appears to be confusing their role as a contractor of the Great Lake Fishery Commission with their function as the portfolio administrator or the machinery of government source of the Canada-US convention-based organization; and whereas the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is providing the machinery of government functions, by which funding is provided from Parliament to Great Lake Fishery Commission be the Treasury Board; and whereas full funding allocated in Canada’s 2022 Spring budget, consistent with our obligations under the 1954 convention on Great Lakes Fisheries was not fully transferred to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission without hold back; and in compliance with the terms of the binational convention, be it resolved that the Committee direct the Chair to undertake all Parliamentary efforts and steps necessary to formally ask the Auditor General of Canada to undertake a governance and conflict of interest duties audit into the Department of Fisheries and Oceans with respect to its role as the machinery of government agent for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and for the execution of Canada’s commitment of the 1954 convention on Great Lake Fisheries; and determine if Global Affairs Canada would be a more appropriate agent to provide conflict-free support into function as the machinery of government source for Great Lakes Fishery Commission.”

If pressed on FOPO Motion
• I acknowledge the motion proposed at the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans regarding the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.
• The Government of Canada provides funds to my Department to fulfill Canada’s obligations under the Convention with respect to the Commission’s mandate, including the delivery of sea lamprey control and the coordination of Great Lakes fishery management.
• There is no conflict between the interests of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and those of the Government of Canada.

If pressed on Governance
• I know that the Commission’s Secretariat has been advocating for a portfolio change from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to Global Affairs Canada for quite some time.
• This is a complex matter and we are assessing the implications of a possible change in responsibility.
• Throughout this process, we will ensure that the work of the Commission and the ongoing delivery of critical sea lamprey control measures are not adversely impacted or needlessly disrupted.

If pressed on other GoC efforts
• The Government of Canada has a number of programs in place to protect, monitor and restore the Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health – domestically and in partnership with the United States.
• In addition to this established and ongoing programming, our Government has made several recent announcements to deepen this commitment:
• $12.5 million was recently announced by the Minister of Transport to further reduce the spread of aquatic invasive species in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region by investing in innovative solutions to ballast water management; and,
• As part of the Great Lakes Protection Initiative, $3.9 million was announced in September to address environmental challenges affecting the Great Lakes.
• The Government also announced, as part of President Biden’s recent visit, an historic investment of $420 million over the next decade to protect and restore the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem.