Nunavut MP Tootoo makes “icebreaking” appearance at the Senate

Hunter Tootoo, the Liberal MP for Nunavut and minister of Fisheries and Oceans, made an appearance in the Senate Feb. 3 to answer questions about his portfolio. (FILE PHOTO)

BRIAN PEHORA

Hunter Tootoo, Nunavut’s MP and minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, appeared at an unprecedented Senate question period Feb. 3 to field questions from senators about his department’s work.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has yet to name a government leader to the Senate and two years ago removed all Liberals sitting in the Senate from the Liberal parliamentary caucus.

Most senators who used to sit in the Liberal Senate caucus now call themselves “Senate Liberals.”

Yesterday’s appearance by Tootoo may be the first in a series of appearances in the Senate by government ministers.

Before answering questions, Tootoo pointed out that he is one of only a few Canadians who have answered questions in “a municipal chamber, a territorial chamber, a federal chamber in the other place and now this upper chamber.”

“So I can knock that off my bucket list,” Tootoo said.

While Tootoo’s invitation was the Senate’s attempt to make its relevance known to Canadians, Tootoo made it clear that his role during Senate question period was to answer questions about his portfolio.

Half way through the half-hour session, Sen. John Wallace, a Harper appointee who left the Conservative caucus this past November, asked Tootoo if he supports Trudeau’s promise to reform the chamber into a non-partisan body.

Tootoo said he supports the role the Senate plays in Canada’s democracy but “as far as how this [reform] moves forward, that’s not my call.”

Among the questions directly related to Tootoo’s mandate, Sen. Claude Carignan, a Harper appointee who is still a Conservative, asked about compensation for fishermen in exchange for creating protected areas in the oceans.

The Liberals promised to increase the total marine protected areas from 1.3 per cent to five per cent by 2017 and 10 per cent by 2020.

Tootoo said that all parties that he’s consulted say this is the “right thing to do” and when pressed said “all considerations will be looked at.”

When Sen. James Cowan, a Paul Martin appointee, asked about construction of new Coast Guard vessels, Tootoo said that three fisheries vessels, three oceanographic vessels and one polar icebreaker are “to the best of my knowledge on time.”

And he said he is “working very hard with the shipyard to stay on schedule because we need to know that the CG [Coast Guard] desperately needs these vessels.”

Tootoo could not provide scheduling details but said he would provide them later “in the spirit of openness and transparency.”

Sen. Wilfred Moore, an appointee under former PM Jean Chrétien, asked what Tootoo has done since taking office to reach out to various stakeholders involved in his portfolios.

Tootoo outlined a series of meetings from “coast to coast to coast” in which he met with hundreds of people, including fishing industry stakeholders, industry groups, conservation groups, provincial and territorial premiers, ministers, municipal officials and academia.

“I’ve been very busy,” Tootoo said.