Federal fisheries officers refusing duties because of violence on the water in N.S.
CTV
Federal fisheries officers in Nova Scotia say they're refusing some enforcement duties because of threats to their safety, as they await Ottawa's response to their complaints.
Federal fisheries officers in Nova Scotia say they're refusing some enforcement duties because of threats to their safety, as they await Ottawa's response to their complaints.
The union representing the officers says its members have been shot at, that people have tried to steal their firearms, and that officers -- and their families -- have been threatened for trying to stop illegal fishing.
"They've been exposed to firearms such as automatic weapons (against) which their current body armour does not protect them," Shimen Fayad, president of the Union of Health and Environment Workers, said in an email Wednesday.
She said a federal labour investigator is reviewing documents from the Fisheries Department and from officers who have refused some enforcement duties on the water and on wharfs in the province.
"We expect to hear something next week," Fayad said regarding the process authorized under the Canada Labour Code to refuse dangerous work.
Commercial fishers, meanwhile, are calling for increased enforcement, saying that illegal and unregulated fishing is becoming more frequent across the province.
"We want real, tangible enforcement activity placed upon the illegal, black market lobster activity that's ongoing throughout the Maritimes," said Dan Fleck, executive director of the Brazil Rock 33/34 Lobster Association, in a recent telephone interview.
