Pauline Frost and Tim Gerberding made statements and answered questions.

Myriam Bergeron made a statement and answered questions.

At 4:32 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:33 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Rick Perkins moved, — That the committee resume the adjourned debate on his motion moved on Thursday, April 18, 2024.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Mel Arnold, Lisa Marie Barron, Richard Bragdon, Caroline Desbiens, Rick Perkins, Clifford Small — 6;

NAYS: Serge Cormier, Brendan Hanley, Ken Hardie, Mike Kelloway, Robert J. Morrissey — 5.

The committee resumed consideration of the motion of Rick Perkins moved on Thursday, April 18, 2024, which read as follows:

That, regarding Minister Diane Lebouthillier's decision to close the legal elver harvest of 2024, the committee finds that: (a) banning legal fishing does not stop poaching; (b) closing the elver fishery has not decreased criminal activity and violence in Nova Scotia as evidenced by the witnesses who have come forward to the committee to detail continued violence and lawlessness in their communities, including arson, assault, and attempted murder; (c) closing the elver fishery has resulted in 1,100 job losses, harming rural Nova Scotian communities and the fishing industry as a whole, when Canadians are struggling with a cost-of-living crisis created by this government; and (d) that current DFO and RCMP enforcement efforts allocated by the Minister remain insufficient and have not put a halt to the violence or poaching; and, given these findings, the committee therefore agrees to report these findings to the House, and call on the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to immediately re-open the elver fishery.

and of the amendment of Mike Kelloway moved on Thursday, April 18, 2024, which read as follows:

That the motion be amended by replacing the words in subparagraph (a) with the words “the elver fishery is a unique public safety and law enforcement environment with considerations including Indigenous treaty rights to fish that complicate attempts to stop unauthorized fishing”; by deleting subparagraph (b); by deleting the words "created by this government" in subparagraph (c); by replacing the words in subparagraph (d) with the words “the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and the provincial ministers of public safety, justice, and fisheries and aquaculture, are working hard and in collaboration across jurisdiction to ensure that public safety is maintained in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick this elver season”; and, by replacing the words “and call on the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard, to immediately re-open the elver fishery” with the words “that this committee call on the government to accelerate the adoption of new regulations for the elver fishery so that the 2025 season can open as scheduled”.

Debate arose thereon.