Opposition is mounting as the provincial Progressive Conservatives seek a workaround to allow a cabinet minister to maintain his lobster fleet.

Earlier this week, it was announced the PCs intend to seek changes to the P.E.I. Conflict of Interest Act to allow Morell-Donagh MLA Sidney MacEwen to maintain the fleet while serving as minister of transportation, infrastructure and energy, and minister of housing and communities, in direct violation of the act.

In a statement Friday, P.E.I. Green Party Leader Matt MacFarlane raised concerns about the effort, and accused Premier Rob Lantz of playing “fast and loose” with provincial and national laws. 

“For our new Premier to make one of his first – and one of his most important – decisions without even consulting with the very people who this decision will affect – our Island fishers – does not sit well with me,” the statement reads.

“I am concerned that Premier Lantz, while distracted for almost a year by a very contentious and close leadership race, has lost focus on what matters most: Islanders.”

P.E.I.’s Conflict of Interest Act states cabinet ministers must place business assets into a blind trust when on executive council, but Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s owner-operator policy requires MacEwen’s fishing licence stay in his name.

MacEwen has said that he plans to apply to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to name a substitute operator for his lobster operation and that he has no intention of fishing this spring. He wants to keep the fleet’s licence in his name, and has said the act should be changed to allow him.

Process ‘bungled’

In an interview with CBC News, MacFarlane said the “whole process has been bungled.” He said whether the act should be changed is “another discussion” and admonished the premier’s previous statement about speaking “to people at the highest level of the federal government,” which he called “inappropriate.”

“That’s interference,” he said. “The integrity of the commercial fishery is based on the owner-operator independence and being the beneficial holders of the license. So we can’t mess with that on a whim. And I think it’s a situation where the premier and his government are in a situation of acting first and then asking for forgiveness later.”

MacFarlane also referenced opposition from the P.E.I. Fisherman’s Association, which described the appointment as “troubling” in a news release earlier this week.

“The association is and continues to be a fierce advocate for policies, regulations and laws that support independent owner operators,” it reads.

Executive director Ian MacPherson said in an interview with CBC News this week he is disappointed the association wasn’t contacted or consulted on the matter by the premier’s office.

“We’ve always had good dialogue with the province,” he said. 

“It’s a real concern that the premier has gone on a very specific issue that hasn’t been talked about or even mentioned to the PEIFA.… Certainly there’s going to be pushback.”

MacFarlane said he fails to see how MacEwen could hold a cabinet position and shouldn’t have been appointed in the first place, noting the Progressive Conservatives have held power for almost seven years and have had plenty of time to seek changes to the law.

MacEwen was first elected in 2015 and, due to his fishing fleet, is a first-time cabinet minister.

“They’ve had ample opportunity with their majority government to change the law to allow Sidney McEwen to come in and sit legitimately,” MacFarlane said. 

“But the way they’re doing it is unethical by bringing in the federal government to create an exception for him. And they’ve got the cart before the horse on it.”

National interest

The attempted law change also saw national interest this week when Egmont MP Bobby Morrissey weighed in, saying in a statement it is “unacceptable” that the province is “attempting to interfere with the owner-operator policy.”

“Owner-Operator rules are critical for responsible fisheries management,” the statement reads. 

“They ensure that inshore fishing licences are held and operated by the people who live and work in coastal communities, keeping the economic value of our marine resources where it belongs…. Rest assured, the federal government remains committed to maintaining the integrity of the policy.”

Reached Thursday, MacEwen said he doesn’t intend to change any rules and plans to apply to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for a substitute operator, arguing his appointment to cabinet is an “exceptional circumstance.”