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Oceans Stewardship Conference
Panel Speech

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to have the opportunity to say a few words about Canada's Oceans Act and to share with you Canada's perspective on national governance mechanisms.

As is the case with most, if not all, coastal states, Canada's approach to oceans management is dynamic and evolving. Domestically, we have a legislative framework in place and we have adopted a "learn by doing" approach to governance and stewardship via 18 pilot projects across our three oceans.

At the same time, Canada continues to play an active role in international fora and we are adapting innovative approaches taken in other countries to the Canadian oceans context.
In the same spirit, we hope that our domestic initiatives will also help to advance the oceans agenda in other coastal states.

This is why, in my opinion, conferences such as these are so important. As we collectively move beyond the study of oceans and toward changing our management approach, all coastal states will need to refine, advance and adapt the linked concepts of governance and stewardship, since they will, to a large extent, define how this change will take place.

I think we are all hopeful that the outcomes of this conference will contribute, in a substantial way, to this important task.

Today, I would like to speak to three related issues that are shaping the Canadian oceans debate

I would like to begin by providing a very brief overview of Canada's Oceans Act;
I would then like to demonstrate how the Act is being translated into Canada's emerging Oceans Strategy; and finally
Conclude by sharing a few of the lessons that we are learning on the important issue of oceans governance.
The Oceans Act

In 1997, Canada adopted an Oceans Act. In broad terms, as Minister Dhaliwal noted yesterday, we see the Act as a national blueprint for managing the relationship between our land and our three oceans in a fully integrated and sustainable way.

The Oceans Act defines Canada's approach to ocean management and provides a foundation for modern ocean management initiatives.

Through this legislation, we affirmed in Canadian domestic law, our nation's sovereign rights, jurisdictions and responsibilities on our continental shelf and in our exclusive economic zone. Consequently, Canada became one of the first countries in the world to make a legal commitment to comprehensively protect and develop its oceans and coastal waters.

To achieve this, the Act is clearly based on a strong commitment to the three important principles that all coastal states are striving to implement:

the sustainable development of oceans resources;
the operationalization of the precautionary approach; and
the integrated management of oceans resources and activities.
As I will note, these three principles, by necessity, are at the heart of the Canadian Oceans Strategy.

I believe it is also worth noting that the Act includes a number of preamble statements that continue to shape our policy approach.

Fore example, in the preamble:

Canada recognizes that the three oceans - the Arctic, the Pacific and the Atlantic - are the common heritage of all Canadians;

The promotion of the understanding of oceans, oceans processes, marine resources and marine ecosystems is supported as a way of fostering the sustainable development of our oceans and their resources;
The fact that the oceans and their resources offer significant opportunities for economic diversification and wealth generation for the benefit of all Canadians, in particular, those Canadians living in coastal communities, is publicly recognized; and finally,
The ecosystem approach to conservation is identified as being fundamental to maintaining biological diversity and productivity in the marine environment.
Since 1997, we have focussed our efforts to develop a Canadian Oceans Strategy that will give life to the spirit and intent of the Oceans Act.

Since that time, we have worked on two related tracks:

We continue the process of policy development of the important concepts and principles that underpin the Act; and
Through 18 pilot projects, we have worked with our partners in provincial and territorial governments, with First Nations and with interested environmental, industry and community groups to test how these principles can be applied in real time situations.
While much remains to be done, significant progress is being made. But it is clear that implementing a broad-based Canadian Oceans Strategy is beyond the purview of any single Minister. But through his leadership, Minister Dhaliwal has engaged all of his Cabinet colleagues, and I believe, has instilled a pan-federal commitment to a new approach to oceans management. This is a very important development.

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CANADA'S OCEANS STRATEGY FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION

When all is said and done, Canada's Oceans Strategy is a comprehensive ocean management plan designed to make ocean use sustainable in one generation. We will meet this challenge by moving from a fragmented, constituency-based approach to ocean management that is an integrated, comprehensive management framework.

In doing so, Canada will strive to capitalize on economic opportunities arising from our ocean resources, while, at the same time, integrating social and environmental goals. Importantly, this strategy reflects the growing desire of Canadians to become involved in the stewardship of our oceans.

Canada's Ocean Strategy is comprised of three components and each component has three sub-themes:

The first component is based on broad application of the three underpinning Oceans Act principles of:

• sustainable development,
• the precautionary approach,
• integrated management;

• Understanding and protecting the marine environment,
• Supporting sustainable economic development, and
• Continuing Canadian international leadership

• Federal and intergovernmental cooperation and collaboration;
• Ocean stewardship, and
• Integrated management planning.
Perhaps I could briefly discuss each of these aspects.

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OCEANS STRATEGY PRINCIPLES

As I have noted, the legal basis for the strategy rests on three underpinning principles found in the Oceans Act. These principles serve as a barometer against which oceans management planning and decision-making are measured.

The principle of sustainable development rests at the core of Canada's Oceans Strategy. It recognizes that any current ocean resource development must be carefully undertaken without compromising the ability of future generations of Canadians to meet their own needs, or compromising the sustainability of marine ecosystems. This principle reflects the values of responsibility; care and conservation that Canadians see inherently linked to our quality of life.

It is this value of care and responsibility that also informs the second principle - the precautionary approach. We view precaution, erring on the side of caution, as being a key factor in our ability to manage ocean development wisely. And as a government, we are working to find ways to operationalize this important concept.

Finally, the third principle, integrated management, is a commitment to move away from a single species or single industry management approach towards a broader, more inclusive method of managing our ocean resources.

As you can see, Integrated Management is important at the level of principle and in the context of new approaches to governance.

I would like to turn now to our oceans policy objectives.

Oceans Policy Objectives

Canada's Oceans Strategy addresses the requirements for a comprehensive, integrated, modern regime of resource management. To that end, three policy objectives have been identified.

The first objective is to understand and protect the marine environment. To a large extent, the historical business of Fisheries and Oceans Canada has been to understand and protect Canada's marine environment. We now recognize that good management decisions are not only based on good scientific advice, but as well on information from "non-scientific" sources such as the fishing industry and the traditional ecological knowledge shared by Aboriginal peoples.

We also recognize that good oceans management decisions require the integration of social and behavioral scientific aspects as well - sound oceans management is based on managing human activity, not managing our oceans.

Integrating diverse and complex information with the help of modern technology are ways in which we can advance our understanding of our ocean resources. Sharing that knowledge with the Canadian public is an important element to enhance public awareness and engage public debate.

There are also sensitive and fragile aspects of our marine environment that require special levels of protection, as well as unique elements of our marine environment that need to be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations.

And, we are all only too aware that there are too many marine species that are threatened or endangered. Creating a national network of marine protected areas is therefore an important component of the policy objective of understanding and protecting the marine environment.

Of course to be truly effective, the network must be linked to the protection efforts of not only our federal partners but also our colleagues in provinces and territories and municipalities, and other national governments.

In particular, we need to increase our work with our partners and other governments to address the terrestrial marine relationship that is key to sustainable oceans resources.

The second policy objective is to support sustainable economic opportunities. In Canada, ocean-based industries now generate nearly $20 billion in annual economic activity affecting the lives of over 7 million Canadians living in coastal communities. Where once Canada's oceans were primarily the domain of the commercial fishing and marine transportation industries, there is now a wide array of new Oceans Activities.

While the fishing and transportation industries continue to be of critical importance, they are now joined by other oceans industries including a rapidly expanding Aquaculture sector, offshore oil and gas, eco-tourism, cruise shipping and recreational boating and new frontiers of scientific and commercial discovery.

The opportunity to generate wealth from the oceans through new and existing industries is considerable.

The third policy objective is Canadian leadership on the global stage on ocean issues ranging from scientific to governance to the environment. As part of a global community of oceans nations, there is much we can learn from each other. Indeed, we have a responsibility to assist each other in our global goal, including providing assistance in capacity-building for developing countries.

We cannot underestimate the importance of this linkage. International leadership is critical to pursuing a comprehensive Oceans Strategy.

As Canada's experiences with transboundary pollution in the Arctic and with straddling and highly migratory fish stocks demonstrate, unilateral action is often insufficient to achieve the protection and sustainable use of marine environments.
International leadership opportunities also provide opportunities for Canadian experts and managers to exchange information with their colleagues and learn from the experiences of others. Canadian experiences can inform and shape international agreements and processes, just as international initiatives may be applied within the Canadian context.

Another important aspect that links our national and international oceans management regime is security and defence. Protection of our sovereign rights must be at the forefront of our oceans strategy.

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NEW GOVERNANCE MECHANISMS AND APPROACHES

To achieve the goal of sustainable ocean use in one generation, the third component of Canada's Oceans Strategy includes the development and implementation of new oceans governance mechanisms and approaches. In this context, I use the term governance to refer to the network of informal and formal institutions that play a role in making decisions that implement the strategy.

Represented within three thematic areas, our approach to oceans governance focuses on three areas:

• Federal and Intergovernmental Cooperation and Collaboration,
• Oceans Stewardship, and
• Integrated Management planning.

Governmental Cooperation and Collaboration

There are several inter-related aspects to governmental cooperation and collaboration. At its most basic level, it involves co-operation and collaboration within the federal family. While conceptually simple, this can indeed be one of the more difficult aspects to achieve. In Canada, more than 20 federal departments have mandates that impact on oceans policy and outcomes. Anyone familiar with government would understand that this presents a challenge that should not be underestimated.

To facilitate the necessary internal co-operation, we are establishing a federal deputy ministers' Interdepartmental Committee on Oceans -- a senior official committee represented by various federal government departments having an interest or regulatory jurisdiction in the management of Canada's oceans.

This committee will support the review and co-ordination of ocean policies and regulation by providing strategic leadership and advice through the Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to the Minister.

The other aspects of governmental cooperation and collaboration, of course, relate to our relations with provincial and territorial governments, with First Nations and Aboriginal peoples, and international relations. In each of these cases we are committed to finding new ways to work together to address the needs of our oceans.

We are making progress on this issue through our Integrated Management pilots. For example, as we are here, my Deputy Minister is discussing with his provincial and territorial Deputy colleagues the possibility of creating an oceans working group under the structure of the Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers.

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Ocean Stewardship

The second aspect of our overall governance framework indeed relates to the theme of this conference - oceans stewardship. Ocean stewardship refers to the nature of the relationship between the Canadian public and that public's good - our oceans. Government's role in this relationship is to enable and encourage the public to participate as completely as possible in helping to make ocean use sustainable in one generation.

Modern ocean governance, therefore, encourages Canadians to volunteer and actively participate in the caring of our ocean resources in a meaningful and positive way. In this regard, I believe there is much we can learn from Aboriginal peoples.

First Nations and Aboriginal peoples have for countless generations taken a holistic and integrated approach to the stewardship of our natural resources. Continuing to work with First Nations and Aboriginal peoples and governments to our mutual benefit is an important aspect of our overall governance regime.

Indeed, north of 60°, we will increase our commitment and effort to pursue a modern ocean agenda in the context of the new governance arrangements, that we see reflected in several co-management regimes that are now in place.

Canada's Oceans Strategy will also continue to develop and promote national initiatives that foster ocean stewardship on behalf of the Canadian public. Participants in these initiatives form part of the wide, formal and informal networks of Canadians who, by virtue of their desire for, clean, healthy and productive oceans, make efforts to make a difference.

Finally, I would like to briefly talk about integrated management planning.

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Integrated Management Planning

I think it is clear that Integrated Management lies at the heart of Canada's new oceans management governance regime.

It is a dynamic and on-going process that brings together interested people to effectively plan and manage human activities occurring in, or affecting portions, of Canada's marine environment.

The goal of the integrated management program is threefold.

First, integrated management will establish reasonable and open processes to provide advice about how to comprehensively manage the human activities in Canada's coastal and marine ecosystems.

Secondly, the integrated management program will foster sustainable development practices within Canada's marine environment.

Finally, the integrated management program will establish objectives and guidelines to maintain or enhance the health of marine ecosystems.

It reverses the fragmented, interest-based approach to managing our oceans by applying a comprehensive, systematic and sustained method of planning to control the use of our ocean space.

The long-term goal of our integrated management program is to cover all of Canada's marine waters with integrated management plans. It is also principally within the marine planning process, that the other Oceans Act programs will be implemented, such as the establishment of Marine Protected Areas.

As I have noted, Fisheries and Oceans, in cooperation with provinces, territories, First Nations and Aboriginal organizations, and other coastal and marine stakeholders, has put in place integrated management pilot initiatives in all three of Canada's oceans.

Indeed, as we have heard, some of the participants at this conference are working with us on practical "on-the-ground" delivery of new integrated approaches to managing our oceans resources.

Through these pilot projects, we have accumulated a number of lessons that will guide us as we refine our development of the governance mechanisms that are required to support the shift toward integrated management.

For example we have learned that:

the magnitude of the shift is not to be underestimated. While Canadians grow increasingly tired of acrimonious resource user conflict, they want the shift to integrated management to occur without a zero-sum outcome.
and that a significant investment in relationship building - in trust building among - governments, First Nations, environmental groups, industry and community groups, is a pretty fundamental pre-requisite.
Before these diverse groups can work together, they need to better understand each others perspectives, and in so doing, develop the trust needed to join in a common approach to sustainable Oceans Management.
We have learned that historic relationships need to be valued and maintained. In the case of Fisheries and Oceans, we need to be clear that the relationship between the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the fishing industry will continue to be close and mutually beneficial. This will be the case with the relationships that exist between many other Ministers and their key partners and stakeholders.
Finally, we have learned that while the objectives of making oceans use sustainable in one generation is realistic, we need to make progress - to demonstrate progress - with each month and year. We are building a foundation right now and momentum is a key factor.

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Conclusion

The Oceans Act and Canada's Oceans Strategy which flows from it is has several important aspects that will shape modern resource governance and management while integrating citizen engagement and stewardship. Together, the Act and the Oceans Strategy will:

• Encourage Canadians and coastal communities to become involved and to cooperate with each other and with governments to put into action a National Oceans Strategy;
• It will make legitimate the role, underscore the value, and shift the balance, to leadership and facilitation, rather than regulation and sanction.
• It will encourage action and change;
• It will respect the jurisdiction, authority and responsibility of other levels of government; and
• Finally, it will foster cooperation among a wide range of parties, ranging from federal ministries, boards and agencies, to other levels of government, to First Nations and Aboriginal organizations and bodies, and with coastal communities and citizens.

In conclusion, modern ocean management recognizes that if future generations are to assume their rightful role as public stewards of Canada's oceans, the foundation of collaborative decision-making must be set today.