Jul 9 2019 — Paul Withers — CBC — In an effort to maintain access to the lucrative U.S. seafood market, Canada will submit a “progress report” to Washington this month outlining steps to protect whales and other marine mammals that interact with more than 200 Canadian fisheries.
Jun 20 2019 — Paul Withers — CBC — The Trudeau government has locked in the right of federal scientists to speak to the media on science for another four years in a new collective agreement. The “scientific integrity” clause was first written into a 2017 collective agreement and enshrined the right to speak about science and their research without being designated a departmental […]
May 3 2019 — Paul Withers — CBC — A new Canadian immigration biometric screening requirement is worsening a chronic labour shortage at Maritime seafood processing plants, just as the two lucrative fisheries in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are about to open. CBC News has learned applications from 11 Mexican temporary foreign workers were rejected last month because biometric data indicated they did […]
Feb 11 2019 — Paul Withers — CBC — Canada’s $227-million fleet of mid-shore coast guard vessels are rolling “like crazy” at sea, making crews seasick and keeping some ships in port during weather conditions where they should be able to operate, CBC News has learned. Canadian Coast Guard records and correspondence obtained under federal access to information legislation raise questions about the patrol […]
Nov 27 2018 — Paul Withers — CBC — Mike Duffy is among four independent senators from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island demanding a full federal environmental assessment of the plan to release treated pulp mill effluent into the Northumberland Strait. The senators say Northern Pulp’s “dangerous project” could damage the fishery in the Maritime provinces and Quebec’s Magdalen Islands. “Ottawa has no […]
Oct 16 2018 — Paul Withers — CBC — Halifax longshoremen are criticizing Nova Scotia’s federal cabinet minister, claiming he has failed to support efforts to modernize the Port of Halifax. Treasury Board president Scott Brison has defended the Trudeau government’s refusal to fund a major expansion at the port, saying the proposal raises multiple issues. Kevin Piper, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association […]
Oct 11 2018 — Paul Withers — CBC — Nova Scotia’s federal cabinet minister is defending the Trudeau government’s refusal to fund a major expansion at the Port of Halifax while pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into rival Canadian ports. Treasury Board president Scott Brison says the proposed $35-million expansion of the Halterm container pier raises multiple issues, including truck traffic in downtown […]
May 7 2018 — Paul Withers — CBC — One of the Trudeau government’s signature acts of Indigenous reconciliation is being challenged in court, exposing the fierce competition between First Nations for a shellfish quota worth millions — and the jockeying by one of Canada’s leading seafood companies to keep control of the fishery. Hundreds of pages of records filed in Federal Court offer […]
May 2 2018 — Paul Withers — CBC — New Jersey company behind quarry proposal in Digby Neck stands to get $443M US in lost profits. The Federal Court of Canada has dismissed Canada’s application to overturn a potentially expensive NAFTA ruling that it wrongly denied a U.S. company permission to open a quarry in Digby Neck, N.S.
Jan 12 2018 — Paul Withers — CBC — As much as half a million kilograms of haddock caught on the rich fishing grounds of Georges Bank this weekend will be landed in ports in southwestern Nova Scotia, as the winter fishery gets underway after a storm-delayed start to 2018. The fishing grounds are a 10- to 12-hour trip by boat from the tip […]
Nov 20 2017 — Paul Withers — CBC — The Canadian Coast Guard has been forced to spend more than $2.5 million this fall to charter vessels to carry out at-sea science surveys because a much-delayed refit has left its own research ship unavailable. Canada’s East Coast ocean monitoring program usually takes place on the CCGS Hudson, but the 54-year old vessel is still […]
Oct 16 2017 — Paul Withers — CBC — The Canadian Coast Guard and a Hamilton shipyard are reviewing whether taxpayers will pay the full $4-million contract for a much delayed refit of an oceanographic research ship. The CCGS Hudson was towed out of Heddle Marine on Oct. 6, months behind schedule and the refit work not completed. The ship was supposed to be […]
Aug 29 2017 — Paul Withers — CBC — A $4-million refit of the Canadian government ocean science research ship Hudson is months behind schedule in a Hamilton, Ont., shipyard. Heddle Marine was supposed to complete dry dock maintenance on the venerable Canadian Coast Guard ship in May. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has not explained the cause of what it calls “these […]
May 4 2017 — Paul Withers — CBC — Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil is defending a top campaign official who struck a woman in the face three years ago when he was the premier’s spokesperson. The story was given juice by federal Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose, who said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that Kyley Harris’s appointment as Liberal campaign communications […]
Apr 13 2017 — Paul Withers — CBC — A Conservative MP who publicly rebuked a Halifax environmentalist at a parliamentary hearing this week has apologized. Todd Doherty, MP for Cariboo—Prince George, accused Susanna Fuller, marine conservation co-ordinator at the Ecology Action Centre, of disrespecting fishermen appearing before the standing committee of Fisheries and Oceans. “It’s shameful,” Doherty said.