Howard Epstein on Regulation of Aquaculture Operations

Excerpt from Hansard: November 23, 2006
Bill 14 – Public Service Act
The honourable member for Halifax Chebucto

Subject: Regulation of Aquaculture Operations

…[the] fishery, which is so important to our economy, is largely administered legally by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Because the primary jurisdiction over oceans rests with the federal government, it doesn’t leave a great deal of regulatory room for the province. What room it does leave is room to observe, make observations, do research and make criticisms of what it is that the federal government itself does or fails to do. I have to say that we, unfortunately, hear precious little from our government or from the Office or Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture by way of criticism of the federal government’s administration and management programs with respect to the offshore.…We observed this week, when questions were raised with respect to an aquaculture operation, that responsibility for making a decision about an aquaculture operation rests with the same department – Fisheries and Aquaculture – that in fact sees as it’s mandate the promotion of that sector. There should be a distinction made between the function of promotion of a sector and the function of making decisions of a regulatory sort of oversight that are akin to environmental assessment. So what I say is that this government should take a good hard look at removing that decision-making function from that department and moving it to an arm’s-length department, moving it to the Department of Environment and Labour.

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