
Ahead of October’s general election, Trudeau’s Liberal Party made a manifesto pledge to help the province “develop a responsible plan to transition from open net-pen salmon farming in coastal waters to closed containment systems” by that date.

And Trudeau today repeated the commitment in one of a series of “mandate letters” spelling out what he expects his ministers to do.

Election commitments

In his letter to Jordan, Trudeau listed 11 priority tasks for the minister which he said “draw heavily from our election platform commitments”.

He said Jordan should “work with the province of British Columbia and Indigenous communities to create a responsible plan to transition from open net-pen salmon farming in coastal British Columbia waters by 2025 and begin work to introduce Canada’s first-ever Aquaculture Act”.

There was no mention of closed containment in the instruction, although it is not clear whether that means the policy has changed or the words have been accidently omitted.

‘Not grounded in science’

Canada’s fish farmers have already condemned the policy.

“This is a reckless policy, not grounded in science, and it will threaten good middle-class jobs across Canada,” said Timothy Kennedy, president and chief executive of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA) when it was first mooted in October.

Read the full letter here.