Hon. Willie Adams:

Thank you, honourable senators. I shall do my best on my inquiry with respect to the future fishery at Nunavut.

Beginning with a land claim in 1993, we started getting quotas in the Nunavut in area OA and OB. In the last five or six years, as we know, there is an award from the Fisheries Minister in Ottawa every year.

My estimate for the worth of the 8,000 tonnes of fish in Nunavut for a year is about $20 million to $30 million per year.

Today in the fishery, Canadians or foreigners have negotiated quotas every year between the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board and the DFO for 8,000 tonnes. Today, up to 75 per cent of the quotas have been caught by foreigners.

Inuit are interested to get into par with that fishery. Today, they only have 25 per cent. I will explain other things about long trawlers or small hook and lining. We had a meeting last February in Iqaluit with representatives of the DFO department and the community. The Inuit are really concerned about the future, that is, how long will we catch long-term 8,000 tonnes a year for the Nunavut area.

What is happening in Nunavut happened in Newfoundland — I do not know how many years ago — with the cod. Inuit today should be concerned. We may do better in the future, in the long term. For now, there is a quota of 8,000 metric tonnes a year in the Nunavut area.

It would be nice to have a choice between hook and line or gill net for the fishers. Because of temperatures, especially in the Nunavut area, where the fish come and go every year, working with percentages is difficult for us.

In the meantime, we have questions for DFO. Research in the area of Davis Strait, the OA and OB areas, last year, showed water temperatures of the up to minus 1. We asked what area the turbot spawned in every year, but DFO could not find it.

The government came up with a policy about three years ago. After a study of the future of fishing turbot in the Nunavut area, they came up with a policy to ban foreigners. At a meeting last February, the DFO did not have any plan for banning foreigners from catching fish along the Nunavut coast or in the bay. That is the only way foreigners can get up there to drag for fish and particularly turbot.

At that time, people from the organization, Nunavut Wildlife, did not have any equipment to collect 8,000 metric tonnes. A request went down to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and we ended up with 11 Canadian anchors to fish for the 8000 metric tonnes to help Inuit people in the community. Somehow, the foreigners got a flag from down in St. John's, Newfoundland or Halifax, and they have been going up there since 2003. At that time we settled a land claim, we thought we would be able take part in the future of our economy.

Today we investment between Canada and the fishery. People in the community like to have partners with people from Canada, the fishermen.

If up to 75 per cent of fish are landed in Greenland, what is the investment for our people in the community? If they landed the fish in Canada, at least we would have support from some of the partners who have invested with us in the fishing. Today there is none.

Earlier I mentioned about a dragging. For the fish I mentioned earlier, I think we are allowed to catch up to 58 centimetres. That is the type of policy we need to be able to catch the fish in OA and OB. DFO was to set the standard at 58 centimetres. That was to be the policy.

We have had people working and coming up for 10 or 15 years. People have been telling us about the fish they get by dragging.

Inuit like to use hooking and gill netting because, according to some of the fishermen, we get a better price than for the dragging. That is the type of thing the Inuit are concerned about.

In 1993, we settled a land claim, but today we are concerned. At the time of this land claim, and being part of Canada, we supported fishing as a business, commercial or any type. We settled the land claim with hopes for creating summer jobs in the community. Today, since the beginning of that land claim, employment in the community is up 85 per cent.

I went up to Burton Island a couple of years ago to see how they were making out with the ice fishing, going out up to 106 kilometres by Ski-Doo. Inuit people know how to fish up there and survive. Today we are looking at around $30 million from fishing. We are looking to the future. Part of the income, that money, should be going to support people in the community.

The fishing season up there is only eight months because of cold weather and ice. If you work for the company for three or four months, sometimes you are able to collect UI in the winter time.

If we gave up our 75 per cent to foreigners every year and not to Canadians, which is very typical, you might be able to collect UI depending on how long you work for the company.

With the land claim agreement set up by Nunavut and the federal government, an investment company, construction or any type of investment, anything that provides jobs, must be owned by 51 per cent of the people living in the community. Today, in the fishery, it does not work that way.

I think in the future, with people in the community involved some part of the money will stay in the community. There was a study to settle a land claim about three or four years ago, in connection with the Industry Department. Nunavut at that time was promoting it. It was going to be called the capital: Nunavut. The government spent over $200,000 million to build up-to-date buildings.

At that time we found out how much, percentage-wise and money-wise, the departments spent up there. Less than 25 per cent stayed in the community. Over 75 per cent of the people who work up there bring the money back down South. That is why we want a policy for the people of the community. The fisheries and businesses should be owned 51 per cent by members of the community. That way, the people who live in our community will benefit.

In the future, this issue should be addressed at the committee, perhaps early in the fall. I want to explain more about the economic future of Nunavut, especially with regard to mining and oil and gas. We must work together in the Senate to ensure better jobs in the community.

Following the land claim settlement in 1953, we have studied how many Inuit people in Nunavut have jobs. Less than 45 per cent of the Inuit today have a job. Over 65 per cent of the workers are from other parts of Canada, taking jobs from people in the community. We need to look into this situation. That is why we settled the land claim; we wanted more control. Today, however, that is not the case.

The Inuit people would like to see more policy between the departments, especially in Ottawa. Job applications coming out today in Nunavut, in the newspapers and on the radio, require that the applicant understand English, Inuktitut and French. In the Arctic before the land claims settlement, we did not have a policy to learn French. Today, however, it is a different story.

Finally, I want to thank the honourable senators who reminded me that we are all Canadians trying to do our best and working together for the future of the people in the community.

At the beginning of my speech, I was talking about 8,000 metric tonnes in turbot fishing. We did not have the type of equipment that people today have. Today, we are concerned that we can only succeed in partnership with Canadians on the East Coast, who are more familiar with commercial fishing.

In the meantime, we have one fish plant in Nunavut, in Pangnirtung. It is typical; we process only 200 metric tonnes. We have 40 employees at the fish plant, mostly women. Their husbands are out fishing while the women work at the fish plant.

We have a policy agreement with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Last year, perhaps due to climate change, about 60 miles offshore, in water as deep as 3,000 metres, we lost people and equipment. Huts and snow machines drifted away on the ice. We do not have insurance policies that cover people who fish on the ice. That is the type of situation we have today when we try to fish in Nunavut. This is what will happen in Nunavut in the future. Thank you for listening to me, honourable senators.

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