Skip to main content

Minister Squires says she is moving forward on eco-certification of lakes, especially for Lake Winnipegosis

Friday May 11, I asked the Minister of Sustainable Development what is happening with the eco-certification of lakes, and particularly with respect to Lake Winnipegosis where the pickerel fishery has, for many years,  been severely impacted.  My question and her response are below (from Hansard) 
Mr. Gerrard: The minister and her government campaigned on a plan for eco-certification of the fisheries on Manitoba's three great lakes, and I'm going to ask specifically about Lake Winnipegosis because it's the worst affected. And I would ask the minister, what is her plan and timeline for eco-certification for Lake Winnipegosis?
Ms. Squires: I thank the member for bringing up the issue of sustainability on our lakes. And I do want to mention and commend the member for some of his passionate advocacy in relation to some of our species, the sturgeon and other species in Manitoba. And just for generally having a concern about our–the sustainability of our fishers.
      Member knows that Skownan First Nation was the first to achieve eco-certification to much success. That was a huge, international success, and we're delighted to be continuing to work with them on their goals for maintaining that certification.
      We have 16 other fisheries in the province that are engaged with us, right now, in pursuing eco‑certification. We are at the preliminary stages of  working with these fisheries. And we're pursuing this with great excitement. We do believe that it is a  collaborative approach. An eco-certification is undoubtedly something that we need to work hand‑in-hand with all of the fishers, all the indigenous communities that rely on the fisheries for their sustenance, and their economic development and well-being. And so it is a very collaborative process and one that we're quite excited about.
      Now, those 16 fisheries are definitely the smaller fisheries in the province. Work does continue on Lake Manitoba, Lake Winnipeg and specifically, member had mentioned, Lake Winnipegosis, which we know is certainly a fishery that requires definite, significant commitment to. And that there's a lot of things that need to be done for sustainability in that regard to the Lake Winnipegosis and the fishery. So we are engaging in-certific a very collaborative approach to them.
      We are hearing a little bit more consensus now than any time before on the need for sustainable–a sustainable practice and sustainability on the fishery. What all the fishers have said to us–and I take this very, very seriously–the fishers are asking us to be a little bit more part of the data collection process and to have access to the data a little bit more–have it more readily available to them. So we're looking at ways in which we can engage them in collaboration on the data.
* (12:10)
      And, when we're all in agreement with the data and the figures, that would certainly allow us to then lead to an evidence-based approach. And when we use that evidence-based approach, it's definitely more–we get farther faster when we all agree on the evidence that's presented. And, up until now, we've seen a lot of disbelief, if you will, from a variety of people who use the lake in terms of the sustainability of the resource. And we are, first and foremost, looking forward to that citizen engagement and collaborative approach to the evidence, that would point to the need for very urgent, sustainable initiatives and eco-certification.      
      So it is a collaborative approach, and I, certainly, am very mindful of the many people throughout Manitoba–and I've had the pleasure of spending time on the lake, and there was one day in particular, it was a -30° degree day and some fishers had taken me out on the lake and had introduced me to their way of life and their practices, as commercial harvesters and fishers.
      And there's a balance to be had, and I know members opposite is aware of that, and we need to work hand-in-hand with, you know, our fishers, who we know are predominantly indigenous fishers and who have very limited economic opportunities. And we want to manage our resources sustainably with them, in conjunction with them, as we look at eco-certification of our fisheries, including Lake Winnipegosis, especially Lake Winnipegosis.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dougald Lamont speaks at Meth Forum last night to present positive ideas to address the epidemic, while exposing the lack of action by the Pallister Conservatives

Last night at the Notre Dame Recreation Centre in St. Boniface, at an Election Forum on the Meth Crisis in Manitoba, Dougald Lamont spoke eloquently about the severity of the meth epidemic and described the Liberal plan to address it.  The Liberal Plan will make sure that there is a single province-wide phone number for people, or friends of people, who need help dealing with meth to call (as there is in Alberta) and that there will be rapid access to a seamless series of steps - stabilization, detoxification, treatment, extended supportive housing etc so that people with meth addiction can be helped well and effectively and so that they can rebuild their lives.  The Liberal meth plan will be helped by our approach to mental health (putting psychological therapies under medicare), and to poverty (providing better support).  It will also be helped by our vigorous efforts to help young people understand the problems with meth in our education system and to provide alternative positive

Manitoba Liberal accomplishments

  Examples of Manitoba Liberal accomplishments in the last three years Ensured that 2,000 Manitoba fishers were able to earn a living in 2020   (To see the full story click on this link ). Introduced a bill that includes retired teachers on the Pension Investment Board which governs their pension investments. Introduced amendments to ensure school aged children are included in childcare and early childhood education plans moving forward. Called for improvements in the management of the COVID pandemic: ·          We called for attention to personal care homes even before there was a single case in a personal care home. ·            We called for a rapid response team to address outbreaks in personal care homes months before the PCs acted.  ·          We called for a science-based approach to preparing schools to   improve ventilation and humidity long before the PCs acted. Helped hundreds of individuals with issues during the pandemic including those on social assistance

The Indigenous Science Conference in Winnipeg June 14-16

  June 14 to 16, I spent three days at the Turtle Island Indigenous Science Conference.  It was very worthwhile.   Speaker after speaker talked of the benefits of using both western or mainstream science and Indigenous science.  There is much we can learn from both approaches.   With me above is Myrle Ballard, one of the principal organizers of the conference.  Myrle Ballard, from Lake St. Martin in Manitoba, worked closely with Roger Dube a professor emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology, and many others to make this conference, the first of its kind, a success.  As Roger Dube, Mohawk and Abenaki, a physicist, commented "My feeling is that the fusion of traditional ecological knowledge and Western science methodology should rapidly lead the researchers to much more holistic solutions to problems."   Dr. Myrle Ballard was the first person from her community to get a PhD.  She is currently a professor at the University of Manitoba and the Director of Indigenous Science