Sipekne’katik boss says new fisheries minister should be from outside Atlantic Canada | The Canadian News

Sipekne’katik boss Mike Sack says the new fisheries minister to replace Bernadette Jordan should be from outside Atlantic Canada to avoid any bias and protect their political careers.

“I strongly believe that the next fisheries minister should be someone from central Canada who is not surrounded by fishermen and women fishermen,” Sack said. “I think it’s a better way to make an impartial decision and it’s not going to jeopardize anyone’s career either.”

Liberal and former Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Bernadette Jordan lost her South Shore-St. Margaret’s seat for conservative challenger Rick Perkins, who finished second behind Jordan in the 2019 federal election.

University of Cape Breton political scientist Tom Urbaniak said a cabinet minister will often have a head start in a political career. But he said Jordan was hampered by her portfolio as fisheries minister and the continued criticism that has been leveled at the liberals’ handling of the fisheries dispute between indigenous and non-indigenous fishers in Nova Scotia.

“This was not just Bernadette Jordan’s problem, they were her predecessors as well,” Urbaniak said. “It was a responsibility for her to be a cabinet minister, especially since she was the minister of fisheries.”

It’s a huge loss for the Liberal Party, which lost another cabinet minister in Peterborough-Kawartha after candidate Maryan Monsef, who recently served as rural economic development minister, lost her seat to the conservative candidate and former host of television Michelle Ferreri.

Urbaniak says Jordan’s defeat in Nova Scotia should be a revelation for the Liberal Party and speak to the Liberals’ lack of leadership and action around the lobster dispute, which turned violent and made international headlines on last year.

“A message was sent and I think a message was read,” Urbaniak said. “This is not something that can simply (be) delegated to the minister or fisheries, there are other ministers with a direct interest in this and this has to be an intergovernmental approach and, frankly, at some point the prime minister is going to have to intervene. “

Urbaniak agrees with Sack, saying the new fisheries minister should come from outside Nova Scotia, as the problem has become a lightning rod in many Nova Scotia communities.

“Fisheries concerns and controversies played a major role in Bernadette Jordan’s defeat,” Urbaniak said. “I think there will be more controversy and more difficulties on the way to a deal and probably the political calculus here will be that it is best handled and led by a minister other than Nova Scotia.”

Sack said he was not surprised by Jordan’s electoral defeat and that the inability of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to push the issue and find a resolution hurt Jordan’s re-election.

“I definitely think he had time to act and he didn’t, so I hope the next one will,” said Sac, who is hopeful for a chance to start over with a new minister and get the negotiations back on track.

“I hope there is someone new with an open mind and the will to figure this out, rather than someone being led all over the map,” Sack said.

“I’d like to sit down as soon as someone names and try to move on right away.”

Global News reached out to Bernadette Jordan for comment, but did not receive a response when the article was published.