Salmon inquiry’s credibility under fire

Cohen Commission’s funding, advisory panel and time frame criticized by concerned parties

Mark Hume
June 16, 2010
The Globe and Mail

A $14-million federal judicial inquiry into the collapse of sockeye salmon stocks on the Fraser River has begun with a lot of tough questions about credibility and funding.

The commission, led by British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen, came under fire on its first day of hearings Tuesday when participants complained funding is inadequate given the massive number of internal government documents to be released, the scope of the inquiry and the need to cross examine witnesses.

The Globe and Mail has learned the Cohen Commission has assigned $3.4-million from its overall budget to more than 20 groups – representing commercial fishing interests, various industries, native communities, governments and others – that have been granted standing.

But Alan Blair, representing the BC Salmon Farmers Association, said in his opening remarks that participants don’t have the funding they need to deal with all the work they face.

Mr. Blair said 21,000 documents have already been released by the government, 14,600 documents were added to that pile on Monday, and “several hundred thousand more” are to come.

“We surely need to have resources [to deal with that],” he said. “This should not be an uneven playing field.”

David Butcher, who is representing the BC Fisheries Survival Coalition and Southern Area E Gillnet Association, challenged the commission on its appointment of an advisory panel of scientists, several of whom have worked in the past with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

“We have no funding for [calling our own] expert evidence. We have had no say in the appointment of people to your expert panel,” Mr. Butcher complained.

He said “it is critical” for the Cohen Commission to allow its expert advisers to be cross examined on the advice they provide.

Read the full story in The Globe and Mail

Read related stories:

 

Read background news stories

 

Posted June 16th, 2010