QUESTION PERIOD — Crown-Indigenous Relations
External Review Process
June 4, 2025
My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Senator Gold, on July 8, 2024, then-minister Diane Lebouthillier from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or DFO, announced that an external review would be undertaken in response to two young Mi’kmaw fishermen who said they were mistreated and left stranded with no shoes in a March 2024 incident involving DFO officers. The three Mi’kmaw members of the review panel were cleared through the OIC process; however, they have not been contracted.
Senator Gold, when will the government fulfill its commitment to reconciliation and transparency by launching this external review?
Thank you for your question, senator, and for your advocacy on this. It was and remains a very troubling incident, and the government is taking steps to address it.
I do not have a specific timetable for the launch of the review, but I have been advised that the work is ongoing.
Senator Gold, my last official conversations with DFO and Crown-Indigenous Relations regarding this were that DFO would tender the third party to execute the review, while Crown-Indigenous Relations would oversee the contract to avoid a potential conflict of interest.
Can you tell us if that contract has been tendered and confirm who will be overseeing it? Thank you.
Thank you for the question.
At this time, I’m not aware, frankly, whether the tender has been awarded, but I’ll certainly raise this issue with the minister in the days to come.
