Government open to changing crab-pricing process, says Furey
With Newfoundland and Labrador's crab fishery finally underway, the premier said Tuesday he's willing to work with fishermen and processors to make sure next year's season starts on time.
On Friday, in a press release announcing the deal, the Fish, Food & Allied Workers union said the agreement was reached with the stipulation that Andrew Furey "publicly commit to revamping the final offer selection (panel) process and work towards a formula prior to the 2024 season."
Furey said Tuesday the agreement didn't hinge on the government's willingness to work out a new process, but that willingness has always been there.
"The commitment is correct. It may be semantics, but it wasn't a stipulation of the agreement. The agreement is between two parties, one of which is not government," he said. "I've been very open about my commitment to this process. In fact, we tried to change it last year, and both parties declined."
The whole point of any process, he said, whether it's a price-setting panel or formula, is to get boats on the water fishing.
"The instrument didn't work this year, so it behooves us to figure out a way to improve the instrument, create a new instrument, or get rid of instruments altogether," he said.
"But we need to make sure that we have this time over the summer to talk to both sides and see what's best. I do think it's important that both sides agree to honour the process that's established after due consultation."
Standoff good for no one, says premier
In the legislature before a deal was reached, the Progressive Conservative Opposition regularly led off question period by demanding the provincial government do something to end the standoff.
With the tie-up over, Opposition leader David Brazil opened Tuesday's session by questioning Furey's involvement in getting a deal done and asking him what the government will do to repair the financial damage done over the past six weeks.
"Harvesters and plant workers had no income for six weeks while the premier was invisible," said Brazil. "How is he going to repair the financial harm inflicted upon these individuals?"
Furey said he and Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg had been involved "from Day 1."
"I was happy to lend further support and facilitating a deal to get those boats back on the water this weekend," he said.
No one's happy with the price of crab this year, Furey told reporters after question period, including the government.
"This doesn't help our treasury, it doesn't help the harvesters or the processors," he said. "So I think there's an immense sense of frustration.… Hopefully, now that the fishery is happening, we can have a more thoughtful conversation about how to improve the process for next year."
