Fisheries and Oceans

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

The department mandate is largely focused on the conservation and allottment of quotas for salt water fisheries on the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic coasts of Canada. The department works toward conservation and protection of inland freshwater fisheries, such as on the Great Lakes and Lake Winnipeg through cooperative agreements with various provinces, however the federal government is constitutionally mandated for the saltwater fisheries only.

To address the need for conservation, the department has an extensive science branch, with research institutes in various locations across the country. Typically the science branch provides evidence for the need of conservation of various species, which are then regulated by the department. DFO also maintains a large enforcement branch with peace officers (known as Fishery Officers) used to combat poaching and foreign overfishing within Canada's Exclusive Economic Zone.

The Department is responsible for several organizations, including the Canadian Coast Guard and the Canadian Hydrographic Service.

The current Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is Gail Shea.

The Department of Marine and Fisheries was created on July 1, 1867, although it did not receive legislative authority until May 22, 1868. The department's political representative in Parliament was the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, with the first minister having been the Hon. Peter Mitchell. The department was headquartered in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill until the disastrous fire of 1916, after which it was moved into the West Block and then off Parliament Hill entirely when new government office buildings were constructed in Ottawa.

Sea-Coast and Inland Fisheries, Trinity Houses, Trinity Boards, Pilots, Decayed Pilots Funds, Beacons, Buoys, Lights and Lighthouses and their maintenance, Harbours, Ports, Piers, Wharves, Steamers and Vessels belonging to the Government of Canada, except gunboats or other vessels of war, harbour commissioners, harbour masters, classification of vessels, examination and granting of certificates of masters and mates, and others in the merchant service, shipping masters and shipping offices, inspection of steamboats and board of steamboat inspection, enquiries into causes of shipwrecks, establishment, regulation and maintenance of marine and seamen hospitals, and care of distressed seamen, and generally such matters as refer to the marine and navigation of Canada.

It should be noted that responsibility for the construction and operation of canals was given to the Department of Public Works at the time of Confederation, with the canals of the United Province of Canada having been previously operated by that colony's Department of Public Works.

In its early days, one of the department's most active agencies was the operation of the Marine Service of Canada, which became the forerunner to the Canadian Coast Guard, with vessels dedicated to performing maintenance of buoys and lighthouses. Whereas fisheries management wasn't as important as it became in the latter part of the 20th century, a major responsibility for the Department of Marine and Fisheries included the provisioning of rescue stations and facilities at the notorious shipwreck sites of Sable Island and St. Paul Island off Nova Scotia.

The department also had responsibility for overseeing the qualification of apprenticing sailors who desired to become mates or shipping masters, as well as several marine police forces, which attempted to combat illegal crimping (the trafficking of sailors in human bondage at major ports).

The foray into enforcement saw the department operate the "Dominion cruisers" which were armed enforcement vessels operating for the Fisheries Protection Service of Canada, a continuation of the "Provincial Marine" enforcement agencies of the British North American colonies. These ships, and other chartered schooners and the like, would cruise the fishing grounds off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, watching for violations within Canada's territorial sea, then only 3 nautical miles (6 km) from shore.

Prior to the First World War, Canada had limited naval forces, with the majority of protection having been offered by the enforcement vessels of the Department of Marine and Fisheries (the Dominion Cruisers), and by Britain's Royal Navy.

In 1909-1910, the Department of Marine and Fisheries became linked to efforts to develop a Canadian naval force, when on March 29, 1909, a Member of Parliament, George Foster, introduced a resolution in the House of Commons calling for the establishment of a "Canadian Naval Service". The resolution was not successful; however, on January 12, 1910, the government of Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier took Foster's resolution and introduced it as the Naval Service Bill. After third reading, the bill received royal assent on May 4, 1910, and became the Naval Service Act, administered by the Minister of Marine and Fisheries at the time.

The official title of the navy was the "Naval Service of Canada" (also "Canadian Naval Forces"), and the first Director of the Naval Service of Canada was Rear-Admiral Charles Kingsmill (Royal Navy, retired), who was previously in charge of the Marine Service of the Department of Marine and Fisheries. The "Naval Service of Canada" changed its name to Royal Canadian Navy on January 30, 1911, but it was not until August 29, 1911 that the use of "Royal" Canadian Navy was permitted by King George V.

Since Confederation, the responsibilities of the original Department of Marine and Fisheries, namely the Fisheries Service and the Marine Service, have transferred among several departments. The formal name of the department is the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. It is also referred to as "Fisheries and Oceans Canada" under the Federal Identity Program.

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Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada)

The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (French: Ministre des Pêches et des Océans) is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for supervising the fishing industry and administrating all navigable waterways in the country. The minister is the head of the federal government's marine department, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, often referred to by its older (and technical) name, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans or DFO. Previously there had been a "Minister of Marine and Fisheries" from 1867 to 1930, a "Minister of Fisheries" from 1930 to 1969 and a "Minister of Forestry and Fisheries" until 1971.

The current minister is Gail Shea.

In addition to the Department, the Minister is also responsible for the Canadian Coast Guard and the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation.

Noted fisheries ministers of the past have included Roméo LeBlanc, John Crosbie and Brian Tobin.

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Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans

The Committee on Fisheries and Oceans is a standing committee in the Senate of Canada.

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Canadian Coast Guard

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) (French: Garde côtière canadienne (GCC)) is the coast guard of Canada.

Originally a variety of federal departments and even the navy performed the work which CCG does today. Following Confederation in 1867, the federal government placed many of the responsibilities for maintaining aids to navigation (primarily lighthouses at the time), marine safety, and search and rescue under the Marine Service of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, with some responsibility for waterways resting with the Canal Branch of the Department of Railways and Canals. Lifeboat stations had been established on the east and west coasts under the Canadian Lifesaving Service moniker, and the West Coast Lifesaving Trail provided a rural communications route for survivors of shipwrecks on the Pacific Ocean coast off Vancouver Island.

After the Department of Marine and Fisheries was split into separate departments, the Department of Marine continued to take responsibility for the federal government's coastal protection services. During the inter-war period, the Royal Canadian Navy also performed similar duties at a time when the navy was wavering between becoming a civilian organization. It should also be noted that laws related to customs and revenue were enforced by the marine division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A government reorganization in 1936 saw the Department of Marine and its Marine Service, along with several other government departments and agencies, folded into the new Department of Transport.

Following the Second World War, Canada experienced a major expansion in ocean commerce, culminating with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958. The shipping industry was changing throughout eastern Canada and required an expanded federal government role in the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast, as well as an increased presence in the Arctic and Pacific coasts for sovereignty purposes. The government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker decided to consolidate the duties of the Marine Service of the Department of Transport and on January 28, 1962 the Canadian Coast Guard was formed as a subsidiary of DOT. One of the more notable inheritances was the icebreaker Labrador, transferred from the Royal Canadian Navy.

A period of expansion followed the creation of CCG between the 1960s to the 1980s. The outdated ships CCG inherited from the Marine Service were scheduled for replacement, along with dozens of new ships for the expanding role of the organization. Built under a complementary national shipbuilding policy which saw the CCG contracts go to Canadian shipyards, the new ships were delivered throughout this "Golden Age" of the organization.

In addition to expanded geographic responsibilities in the Great Lakes, the rise in coastal and ocean shipping ranged from new mining shipments such as Labrador iron ore, to increased cargo handling at the nation's major ports, and Arctic development and sovereignty patrols - all requiring additional ships and aircraft. The federal government also began to develop a series of CCG bases near major ports and shipping routes throughout southern Canada, for example Victoria, BC, Darmouth, NS and Parry Sound, ON.

The expansion of the CCG fleet required new navigation and engineering officers, as well as crewmembers. To meet the former requirement, in 1965 the Canadian Coast Guard College (CCGC) opened on the former navy base HMCS Protector at Point Edward, Nova Scotia on Sydney Harbour, Cape Breton Island. By the late 1970s the college had outgrown the temporary navy facilities and a new campus was opened in the adjacent community of Westmount in 1981.

During the mid-1980s, the long-standing disagreement between the U.S. and Canada over the legal status of the Northwest Passage came to a head after the USCGC Polar Sea transited the passage in what were asserted by Canada to be Canadian waters and by the U.S. to be international waters. During the period of increased nationalism that followed this event, the Conservative administration of Brian Mulroney announced plans to build several enormous icebreakers, the Polar 8-class which would be used primarily for sovereignty patrols.

However the proposed Polar 8-class was abandoned during the late 1980s as part of general government budget cuts; in their place a program of vessel modernizations was instituted. Additional budget cuts to CCG in the mid-1990s following a change in government saw many of CCG's older vessels built during the 1960s and 1970s retired.

In the 1990s-2000s, CCG modernized part of its SAR fleet after ordering British Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)-designed ARUN-class high endurance lifeboat cutters for open coastal areas, and the USCG-designed 47-foot Motor Life Boat (designated by CCG as the Cape-class) as medium endurance lifeboat cutters for the Great Lakes and more sheltered coastal areas.

CCG announced plans in 2006 to order four new Midshore Patrol Vessels. CCG announced on April 12, 2007 plans to order an additional eight new vessels. Seven of these new vessels are scheduled to replace CCGS Québécois, CCGS Cumella, CCGS Atlin Post, CCGS Sooke Post, CCGS Kitimat II, CCGS Arrow Post, and CCGS Comox Post. CCG is also planning to order an additional five new vessels. The new vessels will have a maximum speed of 25 knots (46 km/h), be approximately 40 meters in length and carry a crew of 8-10 with additional room to carry DFO fisheries officers or RCMP officers. Delivery is planned from 2009 through 2014.

From its formation in 1962 until 1995, CCG was the responsibility of the Department of Transport. Both the department and CCG shared complementary responsibilities related to marine safety, whereby DOT had responsibility for implementing transportation policy, regulations and safety inspections, and CCG was operationally responsible for navigation safety and SAR, among others.

Following the 1994 budget, the federal government announced that it was transferring responsibility for CCG from the Department of Transport to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The reason for placing CCG under DFO was ostensibly to achieve cost savings by amalgamating the two largest civilian vessel fleets within the federal government under a single department. Pundits at the time wrily referred to this arranged shotgun wedding as the 'Department of Fish and Ships'.

Arising out of this arrangement, CCG became ultimately responsible for crewing, operating, and maintaining a larger fleet - both the original CCG fleet before 1995 of dedicated SAR vessels, NAVAID tenders, and multi-purpose icebreakers along with DFO's smaller fleet of scientific research and fisheries enforcement vessels, all without any increase in budget - in fact the overall budget for CCG was decreased after absorbing the DFO patrol and scientific vessels.

Unfortunately there were serious stumbling blocks arising out of this reorganization, namely in the different management practises and differences in organizational culture at DFO, versus DOT. DFO is dedicated to conservation and protection of fish through enforcement whereas CCG's primary raison d'etre is marine safety and SAR. There were valid concerns raised within CCG about reluctance on the part of the marine community to ask for assistance from CCG SAR vessels, since CCG was being viewed as aligned with an enforcement department. In the early 2000s, the federal government began to investigate the possibility of making CCG as a separate agency, thereby not falling under a specific functional department and allowing more operational independence.

In one of several reorganization moves of the federal ministries following the swearing-in of prime minister Paul Martin's administration on December 12, 2003, several policy/regulatory responsibilities were transferred from CCG (back) to the Department of Transport to provide Canadians with a single point of contact for issues related to marine safety regulation and security, although CCG maintained an operational role for some of these tasks. Notably, DoT retained Office of Boating Safety (recreational boating regulations) and Navigable Waters Protection (waterway protection). The part of DoT that is concerned with maritime matters is today commonly referred to as Transport Canada Marine Safety Directorate, or simply "TC".

Finally, on April 4, 2005 it was announced by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans that CCG was being redesignated a "special operating agency" - the largest one in the federal government. Although CCG still falls under the ministerial responsibility of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, it has more autonomy where it is not as tightly integrated within the department.

An example being that now all CCG bases, aids to navigation, vessels, aircraft, and personnel are wholly the responsibility of the Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard. The Commissioner is, in turn, supported by the CCG headquarters which develop a budget for the organization. The arrangement is not unlike the relationship of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police toward that organization's parent department, the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

The special operating agency reorganization is different from the past under both DOT and DFO where regional director generals for these departments were responsible for CCG operations within their respective regions (where it should be noted that there were problems under DFO that did not occur under DOT). Now all operations of CCG are directed by the commissioner who reports directly to the minister and the CCG's assistant commissioners in each the regions. This management and financial flexibility is being enhanced by an increased budget for CCG to acquire new vessels and other assets to assist in its growing role of helping to ensure maritime (i.e. non-naval, non-military) security.

CCG as an SOA continues to provide vessels and crew for supporting DFO's fisheries science, enforcement, conservation, and protection requirements. The changes resulting in CCG becoming a special operating agency under DFO did not address some of the key concerns raised by an all-party Parliamentary committee investigating low morale among CCG employees following the transfer from DOT to DFO and budget cuts since 1995. This committee had recommended that CCG become a separate agency under DOT and that its role be changed to a paramilitary organization involved in maritime security by arming its vessels with deck guns, similar to the United States Coast Guard and that employees be given peace officer status for enforcing federal laws on the oceans and Great Lakes.

Instead, today some members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (peace officers) work alongside CCG members who crew the vessels patrolling the waters of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Great Lakes and southern Georgia Strait in British Columbia - which borders the US waters of the state of Washington - as part of marine security and enforcement teams. Until new, dedicated MSE vessels are launched starting in 2010, both the RCMP and the CCG have supplied vessels which now carry the dual markings and insignia of both agencies: the red hull with white slanted side stripe of the CCG, the words Coast Guard plus the word police. The shields of both agencies are featured on these hybridized vessels which carrying armed officers.

Unlike the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), which is now within the US Department of Homeland Security but was formerly part of the US Department of Transportation, CCG continues to be a civilian, non-paramilitary organisation.

The enforcement of laws in Canada's territorial sea is the responsibility of Canada's federal police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) as all ocean waters in Canada are under federal (not provincial) jurisdiction. Saltwater fisheries enforcement is a specific responsibility of DFO's Fishery Officers.

The Great Lakes are bi-national Canadian and American waters from the perspective of federal jurisdictions, laws and enforcement of same. A major crime committed 'on the water' would be investigated by the Canadian municipal, regional or provincial police force that ordinarily carries out such investigations on adjacent land. Canada no longer has federal port or harbour police forces, but did have them at one time. Federal offences committed 'on the water' might also be subject to investigation by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

Note that the CCG does not have a "reserve" whereas the Canadian army, navy, air force and US Coast Guard do. There is a Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (CCGA) comprised of some 5,000 civilian volunteers across the country who are members of a non-profit organization separate from the CCG proper. CCG provides operational and training (federal) funding under renewable "Contribution Agreements" signed by the Commissioner with each regional CCGA association.

Unlike the Canadian army, air and sea cadet programs, CCG does not involve 'cadets' (excepting in the sense of students attending the CCG College working towards their bachelor degrees.) Nor is there an ROT Program (Reserve Officer Training Program). However, Canadian university students can be offered summer employment positions as members of Inshore Rescue Boat Units. IRB Units generally operate from late May (Victoria Day long weekend) through early September (Labour Day long weekend) and are appropriately located at waterfront locations on waters under federal jurisdiction and therefore are subject to receiving coverage under Canada's SAR international conventions, that experience high levels of summer seasonal recreational boating activity (which results in the generation of more marine SAR incidents). Students were also once employed under CCG's Responsible Recreational Boating Unit (RRBU) program for safety on major inland waters, for example in the Pacific Region.

CCG's management and organizational structure reflects its non-military nature. The head of CCG is called the "Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard". (The rank of "commissioner" is awarded to the head of the RCMP. However, 'rank' and associated insignia are not viewed in the CCG the same way they are in the RCMP or Canadian Navy).

CCG maintains a number of major bases and operating locations/stations on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as in the St. Lawrence River, Great Lakes and major navigable inland waterways such as Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg, and Great Slave Lake/Mackenzie River.

Currently, there are no vessels permanently based in the eastern Arctic, although CCG vessels and aircraft frequently operate there, staging out of bases on the Atlantic coast and supported by a base in Iqaluit, Nunavut.

The Fleet Directorate is responsible for all ships and their manning requirements. Most vessels have between 5-30+ crewmembers. CCG as a whole numbers approximately 2,000 personnel.

All CCG vessels are painted uniformly regardless of their use. They are characterized by a red hull and white superstructure, designed to look like a "floating Canadian flag". Their hulls bear a (primarily) white stripe raked forward at a 60 degree angle on each side forward. (USCG ships have white, black and red (and battleship grey) hulls marked with red raked side stripes well forward and edged with blue and white pinstriping with the USCG shield emblazoned on the stripe.) Ship nameplates are typically affixed to the superstructure, and vessels are typically named for persons or places of historic or geographic significance.

Throughout the 1960s-1990s, CCG painted primary SAR vessels in a different colour scheme: bright mustard yellow superstructure and maple leaf red hull, meant to distinguish them from navaid tenders and icebreakers, and also to improve their visibility on the open ocean in breaking waves. Today the only distinguishing markings for primary SAR vessels is the large RESCUE-SAUVETAGE lettering on the superstructure. Vessels carry the "Canada" 'federal wordmark', which incorporates the duotone version of the national flag. The words Coast Guard Garde Cotière appear side by side on the hull.

The prefix "Canadian Coast Guard Ship", abbreviated CCGS, is affixed to any major vessel. Several minor vessels such as patrol boats and life boats carry the prefix "Canadian Coast Guard Cutter", abbreviated CCGC.

Many larger vessels in the CCG are close to the end of their planned lifetime, having been constructed from the 1960s-1980s with no replacements in the 1990s-2000s.

The Polar 8 Project announced in 1985 would have built several $700 million (1985 CAD) icebreakers with polar class of PC-1 for use in the Arctic Ocean. The project was cancelled in 1990 in lieu of refitting CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent.

The federal government announced plans in 2006 to acquire 12 mid-shore patrol ships for CCG to supplement fisheries conservation and protection duties (fisheries patrol ships) in Maritime, Newfoundland and Pacific regions. It was expected that 4 of these ships were to be tasked with marine security duties in the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Seaway. This $350 million procurement project was canceled in 2008 before final tendering was completed with no replacement project identified.

The February 2008 federal budget designated $720 million for the Polar Class Icebreaker Project to replace CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent in FY 2017. In August 2008 the name for this project's sole vessel was announced as CCGS John G. Diefenbaker.

In addition to various bases located in deep water ports, rescue stations in smaller minor ports, and its fleet of vessels, CCG also operates a small number of rotary and fixed wing aircraft. Rotary wing aircraft are used as ice surveillance platforms in the winter (operating from icebreakers and shore bases), while flying maintenance personnel and supplies for servicing aids to navigation year-round. Fixed wing aircraft are used for marine pollution surveillance patrols.

The majority of CCG aircraft are stationed at municipal airports located near major CCG bases and are primarily located in eastern Canada, given the absence of ice surveillance requirements for the west coast.

Maintenance for CCG aircraft is provided by both CCG and Transport Canada personnel.

As with any government vessels being called upon to assist Canadian Forces Maritime Command, government civilian aircraft such as CCG aircraft may be called upon at any time to assist Canadian Forces Air Command.

CCG operates one of the world's largest network of navigational buoys, lighthouses and foghorns assisting mariners on the Atlantic, Pacfic and Arctic Coastlines as well as selected inland waters. CCG completed a large-scale program of automation and destaffing which began in 1968 and was largely completed in the 1990s. The result of this program saw the automation of all lighthouses and the removal of light keepers except for a handful of stations in British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick. Budget cuts and technological changes in the marine shipping industry, such as the increased use of GPS, electronic charting and GMDSS, has led CCG through several "Level of Service Reviews" pertaining to aids to navigation. This had led to the further decommissioning of buoys and shore-based light stations as well as a dramatic reduction in the number of foghorns.

The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (CCGA), formerly the Canadian Marine Rescue Auxiliary (CMRA), is a nonprofit organization of volunteer recreational boaters and commercial fishermen who assist CCG with search and rescue as well as boating safety education. CCGA members who assist in SAR operations have their vessel insurance covered by CCG, as well as any fuel and operating costs associated with a particular tasking.

The CCGA permits CCG to provide marine SAR coverage in many isolated areas of Canada's coastlines without having to maintain an active base and/or vessels in those areas.

The Canadian Coast Guard is the owner of many significant heritage buildings, including the oldest lighthouse in North America, the Sambro Island Lighthouse. The Coast Guard has selectively maintained some heritage lighthouses and permitted some alternative use of its historic structures. However many historic buildings have been neglected and the Coast Guard has been accused of ignoring and abandoning even federally recognized buildings. Critics have pointed out that the Canadian Coast Guard has lagged far behind other nations such as the United States in preserving its historic lighthouses. These concerns have led community groups and hertage building advocates to promote An Act to Protect Heritage Lighthouses in the Canadian Parliament.

The spring of 2008 saw the introduction of a weekly Canadian television drama on Global Television that is loosely based on the rescue operations of the CCG on the southern Canadian west coast. Originally to be called "Search And Rescue", the series debuted as "The Guard". The CCG provided a motor lifeboat, small helicopter and a hovercraft along with their operating crew to be used in the production. The show revolves around a fictitious station called Port Hallert, which is actually Squamish, British Columbia.

In the military these represent ranks, in the Canadian Coast Guard they represent levels of responsibility and commensurate salary levels.

Branch is denoted by coloured cloth between the gold braid. Deck Officers, Helicopter Pilots, Hovercraft Pilots and JRCC/MRSC Marine SAR Co-ordinators do not wear any distinctive cloth.

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David Anderson (Canadian politician)

David Anderson, PC (born in Victoria, British Columbia on August 16, 1937) is a former Canadian cabinet minister.

Educated at Victoria College in Victoria, BC and the University of British Columbia, Anderson served as a foreign service officer in the Department of External Affairs between 1962 and 1968. His posts included Indochina (International Supervisory And Truce Commissions) 1963-64, Assistant Canadian Trade Commissioner in Hong Kong, 1964 -1967, and China Desk Officer in Ottawa 1967-68. In Hong Kong, Anderson attended the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Hong Kong and obtained the British Foreign Officer Higher Standard Certificate in Mandarin.

During his UBC days Anderson won a silver medal for rowing in the 1960 Olympic Games, and a silver medal in the Pan American Games in Chicago in 1959. He was also a pilot in the University Reserve of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He was elected Liberal MP for the constituency of Esquimalt—Saanich on Vancouver Island in the 1968 federal election. Four years later he switched to provincial politics, and was elected leader of the provincial Liberal Party (April 1972), then the third party in the provincial legislature with 5 out of 55 seats. Although elected himself in the 1972 election, representing the constituency of Victoria, the Liberal Party did not increase its seat total. Anderson served as Member of the Legislative Assembly until his defeat in December 1975.

During this period of elected office Anderson was prominent in representing Canadian concerns over offshore oil drilling, pipeline developments in Northern Canada, and oil tanker traffic between Alaska and the Lower 48 states.

Between 1976 and 1984, Anderson worked as an environmental consultant and adjunct professor at the University of Victoria's School of Administration, where he taught in the fields of constitutional and administrative law, and environmental policy. His environmental work focused on coastal and wetland protection and marine pollution from oil exploration and transportation.

Anderson was appointed as a member of the Immigration Appeal Board for a 10-year term in 1984. He served from March 1, 1984, until December 31, 1988, when the board was dissolved. Anderson unsuccessfully sued the federal government in the Federal Court, Trial Division for compensation for lost salary and benefits due to the early abolition of his position. He withdrew an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal when he was elected to Parliament in 1993.

In the 1993 federal general election Anderson re-entered elected politics. He was elected MP for Victoria and retained this position for three subsequent elections, ending when he retired from politics in January 2006. During this period, he served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as Minister of National Revenue (1993-95), Minister of Transport (1995-97), and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (1997-99). He also was appointed the regional political minister for British Columbia, which he retained until 2002.

Anderson’s time in the fisheries portfolio was marked by considerable controversy with the commercial fishing industry as he worked for strict conservation measures to protect fish stocks. These measures including a complete ban on the killing of Coho salmon in 1998. After six years of previous failures, he succeeded in getting an agreement with the United States under the Pacific Salmon Treaty to conserve salmon stocks and to end the destructive competitive fishing by the US and Canadian commercial fleets.

In the cabinet shuffle of 1999, Chrétien appointed Anderson Environment Minister. He served in that post for the following five years, making him the longest serving Canadian environment minister. In this period Anderson’s work largely centered around the Rio Summit conventions on biodiversity and climate change. He was successful in getting the Species at Risk Act passed by Parliament and signed into law (2004), and, despite strong objections from the governments of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario and the federal Official Opposition, in securing Canadian ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in December 2002. Other initiatives involved improving air and water quality and established improved federal provincial cooperation on environmental issues.

In international work, Anderson was the first Canadian elected as president of the governing council of the United Nations Environment Programme, a post he held for two years. He took a prominent part in the G8 and OECD Environment Minister’s meetings.

In February 2007 he was named director of the Guelph Institute for the Environment.

Anderson has received a number of environmental awards, including the John Fraser Award for Environmental Achievement from the Sierra Club of Canada (2005), the Dr. Andrew Thompson Award from West Coast Environmental Law for his lifetime contributions to the environment and sustainability in British Columbia (2004), and the 50th anniversary International Conservation Award (1998) from the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

He was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in laws by the University of Victoria in 2007.

Anderson is married to Sandra McCallum and they have two children, James 24, and Zoe, 20.

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Roméo LeBlanc

Roméo-Adrien LeBlanc, PC, CC, CMM, ONB, CD (born December 18, 1927 in Memramcook, New Brunswick) is a former Governor General of Canada.

LeBlanc was appointed Governor General on February 8, 1995, the first Acadian and the first person from the Maritimes to hold that post. He resigned from the position in 1999, citing health reasons.

He studied at the Collège St-Joseph in Memramcook, earning a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education there. He also studied French Civilization at the Université de Paris.

LeBlanc was a teacher for nine years before becoming a journalist. After working for Radio-Canada, he served as press secretary for two Prime Ministers: Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau.

He was first elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal Member of Parliament in 1972. He served in several cabinet positions in the Trudeau government, notable as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans from 1979-82.

Hugely popular with Atlantic fishermen and with departmental staff, LeBlanc was a key figure in Canada's imposition of a 200-mile fishing zone; he noted that his department "led the way." On the national level, a new fisheries licensing system and widespread use of quotas and zones gave fishermen more protection from the unbridled overexpansion and cutthroat competition that had bedevilled many fisheries in the past. A widespread system of advisory committees brought fishermen a far bigger voice in fishery management.

On the Pacific, LeBlanc oversaw creation of the huge Salmonid Enhancement Program, aiming for a doubling of salmon production. He was also known for quelling plans by Alcan that were deemed to threaten salmon rivers at the time.

But his main impact was on the Atlantic, starting with more fish. As Canada gained the 200-mile limit and banished most foreign vessels, LeBlanc warned against Canadians themselves overfishing. He often used the line, "I fear that by gaining a zone, we will lose an excuse." He and his officials kept conservation quotas at a cautious level, bringing about a rebuilding that soon made Canada the world's leading fish exporter.

Who would get the fish? Friction was often present between independent, smaller-boat fishermen and major companies operating large trawlers. LeBlanc took the side of the independents, who were the great majority in the fishery. In general, without taking fish away from larger companies, he brought in quotas and other policies that protected the share of the small and medium-sized boats. He also forbade foreign corporations from holding commercial fishing licences.

In many areas, the independent fishermen had been only loosely organized, if at all. LeBlanc galvanized the forming and strengthening of organizations. Other major policies, known as the owner-operator rule (licence holders would operate vessels themselves) and the separate-fleet rule (generally prevents corporations from holding licences in the under-65-foot fleet), remain important today.

Late in 1982, LeBlanc became Minister of Public Works. In 1984, he was appointed to the Senate, where he became Speaker in 1993.

LeBlanc's term as The Queen's Vice-Regal Representative in Canada was considered to have been "low key", and largely uneventful, especially in comparison to that of his successor, Adrienne Clarkson.

His largest bout of publicity occurred immediately after the announcement of his appointment. The decision to appoint a prominent Liberal party politician and organizer as Governor General by Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was criticized by some as being little more than a patronage gift to a loyal party member.

In the 1993 federal election, LeBlanc had been one of the chief architects of the Liberal Party's election strategy, and was one of the party's most fierce partisans. His son, Dominic LeBlanc was likewise a member of the Liberal Party, and continued to work for the Prime Minister's office. In protest, Reform Party of Canada leader Preston Manning refused to attend LeBlanc's installation ceremony, as did Bloc Québécois leader Lucien Bouchard.

LeBlanc travelled widely in all parts of Canada, and had a special affinity for small towns and cities, such as Rossland, B.C. and Kapuskasing, Ontario. He was particularly visible in small-town Quebec after the 1995 referendum. He liked the north, and was proud to present a flag and coat of arms in a noted speech at the creation of the Nunavut territory in 1999. LeBlanc was equally pleased to have inaugurated National Aboriginal Day, and expressed great fellow-feeling with Aboriginal people in general.

LeBlanc believed in the abilities, good sense, and dignity of ordinary Canadians, and in 1996 established the Caring Canadian Award to recognize the "unsung heroes" who volunteer their time, efforts, and much of their lives to helping others.

LeBlanc was the first Acadian Governor-General, which earned praise from the Acadian community.

LeBlanc is an honorary member of the Royal Military College of Canada club, H20123.

His first marriage was to Linn Carter. They had two children. His son, Dominic LeBlanc, became a Liberal Member of Parliament in 2000. His second marriage was to Diana Fowler LeBlanc (b. 1940), who, as the spouse of the Governor-General, was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

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