Latest news with #fishingRights
CBC
18 hours ago
- Politics
- CBC
Commercial fishing group to call on courts to define moderate livlihood
Social Sharing An organization that represents commercial fishermen says it's steaming ahead with a lawsuit aiming to define the terms of a moderate livelihood fishery now that a Nova Scotia-based First Nation has dropped its own lawsuit against the federal government. "It is critically important for all participants in the fishery to understand what the moderate livelihood right is and what its scope is and just as important to understand what it isn't," Colin Sproul, president of the United Fisheries Conservation Alliance, said in an interview. "We really need that clarity for everyone." Sproul was responding after his organization learned late Friday that lawyers for Sipekne'katik First Nation filed a notice of discontinuance in a lawsuit the band launched against the Attorney General of Canada in 2021. The Chronicle Herald first reported the development. Sipekne'katik wanted the courts to rule that the federal Fisheries Act infringed on its right to fish for a moderate livelihood. That would include the group's ability to fish for lobster outside the commercial season and catch and hold lobster without a licence. Sensing roadblocks? Sipekne'katik Chief Michelle Glasgow, who had been scheduled to appear in court on Monday as part of discovery for that lawsuit, did not respond to requests for comment. A summer fishery the First Nation started in St. Mary's Bay five years ago has been a flashpoint, with representatives from Sproul's organization and some other commercial groups expressing concern that a full-scale commercial operation has been happening outside of the regulated commercial season and that Fisheries and Oceans Canada has not done enough to prevent it. First Nations fishers have countered that fisheries officers have unlawfully seized traps and interfered with their treaty right to fish. Concerns aside, some First Nations fishers have exercised their food, social and ceremonial rights in the area. Fish caught as part of the FSC fishery, which is not regulated by any kind of season, cannot be sold or traded and is a constitutionally recognized practice. Michel Samson, a lawyer for the United Fisheries Conservation Alliance, said his interpretation of the notice of discontinuance is that officials with Sipekne'katik determined "there was no way that the courts were going to recognize what was being claimed." Moderate livelihood never defined With that lawsuit coming to an end, the alliance is now free to pursue its own. The group had intervener status in the matter between Sipekne'katik and the federal government, which had been previously delayed while the two parties worked toward a resolution outside the court process. "The United Fisheries Conservation Alliance has gone from being in the back of the bus to now behind the driver's wheel in having the courts make a determination on what are the limits around a moderate livelihood fishery for First Nation communities in Nova Scotia," Samson said in an interview. Calls for a definition of what constitutes a moderate livelihood date back to a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada ruling known as the Marshall decision, which said that First Nations have a treaty right to earn a moderate livelihood. And while a subsequent clarification, known as Marshall II, said the government can regulate a resource in certain circumstances, it has been up to Ottawa, in consultation with First Nations, to establish what constitutes a moderate livelihood. That has not happened.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Starmer's trade deals FIASCO: 'Win-wins' are just sugar-coated concessions
Keir Starmer has sought to portray his hastily stitched together trade deals with the United States, the European Union and India as unalloyed triumphs. The way he tells it, you'd think he is so persuasive at the negotiating table that he could sell ice to Eskimos and sand to Arabs. But the truth is that a Prime Minister in need of an economic success story to sell to an increasingly disillusioned electorate has sugar-coated the outcomes of these talks and misleadingly presented them as 'win-wins' for UK plc. In fact, he has been bamboozled and outmanoeuvred at every turn by representatives of foreign powers who really do know how to play hardball. Take the French president Emmanuel Macron's outrageous piece of brinkmanship over fishing rights. Aware of how desperate the embattled Starmer was to announce a new trade deal with Brussels, he ambushed him at the 11th hour with a demand that EU fishermen be given further rights to our waters for 12 years. No wonder one member of an influential French fisheries committee later gloated: 'We couldn't have hoped for better.' And what did we get in return? A vague promise to allow British travellers to use e-gates at European airports at some unspecified point in the future. Starmer's willingness to sign agreements that have concessions to the other party baked in – but only airy promises about reciprocal benefits – is a feature of all the deals he has signed to date. The American deal, for example, has more holes than a sieve. Under the terms of the 'US-UK Economic Prosperity Deal', we were told that Britain would be freed from a 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium, for example. (A tariff, incidentally, that was later doubled to 50 per cent but is currently on hold until July 9.) The dash for a carbon-free economy means that there is only one UK blast furnace producing vital virgin steel currently operating at full capacity. As a result, the White House is concerned about the prospect of Britain sending cheaper imported steel to the US that has been pressed or rolled in this country. So the US negotiators are insisting that only steel that is 'melted and poured' in the UK (in other words, smelted in a furnace) is covered by the trade deal. All very well, but one of Britain's biggest steel exporters is Tata Steel. It shut down its blast furnaces at Port Talbot in South Wales last year, so must currently import raw steel from the Netherlands and India – both subject to American tariffs. This is a knotty problem – and the clock is ticking. Unless an agreement can be reached by July 9 when the new tariff rates kick in, Britain's steel exports will be hit by that punitive 50 per cent rate. So much for the US deal. The EU one is even worse. While Starmer surrendered to Macron's ultimatum over fishing, Brussels remained characteristically obdurate when it came to its €150 billion (£125 billion) defence fund. Despite the growing threat from Russia, the US's coolness towards Nato and Britain's leadership in high-tech warfare – not to mention our control of the Eurofighter Typhoon platform – Starmer extracted only the woolliest of commitments from the EU. The bloc merely said the new deal 'will pave the way' for Britain's defence industry to participate in the EU's fund. There were similarly weasel words when it came to the use of e-gates by British travellers to the Continent. Under the terms of the deal, access would be given as 'soon as possible', yet we could be queuing for years to come. Even the recently agreed trade deal with India has its critics. It included an extension from one to three years to a scheme that offered Indian workers employed here on a temporary basis an exemption from National Insurance Contributions – a totally toxic clause given Chancellor Rachel Reeves' now notorious October Budget, which raised Employer National Insurance Contributions. What is particularly shameful is the dishonest way in which the Government has presented the deals to the British people as if they are a big win for everyone. Tell that to the working men and women and fishing crews whose livelihoods are threatened by the weakness and incompetence of the man at No 10.
Telegraph
20-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
European diplomats used Starmer chatbot to predict PM's next moves
European diplomats used an AI chatbot modelled on Sir Keir Starmer to prepare for eleventh-hour negotiations over the Brexit reset deal, the Telegraph can disclose. Officials linked to both the Spanish and Slovenian governments were among those interacting with a 'digital clone' of the Prime Minister in the final hours of wrangling over the agreement. The AI models were used to test potential responses as the European Union sought to force through concessions on fishing rights and youth mobility, it is understood. Sir Keir eventually signed away 12 years of guaranteed access to Britain's fishing waters and agreed to sign up to a scheme making it easier for Europeans to live, work and study in the UK as the price for his Brexit deal. His critics branded the agreement a 'surrender' and an attempt to reverse Brexit by stealth. Hundreds of questions were posed to a virtual model of Sir Keir designed and operated by a British tech firm which also has digital versions of Parliament's 649 other MPs. Its system generates answers using data harvested from previous public statements made by the Prime Minister and the other politicians. 'AI is fast becoming a vital tool in diplomacy. The ability to accurately predict how a government might act or respond is a huge bonus,' Leon Emirali, the company's founder, said. The diplomats, from Spain's economy ministry and Slovenia's digital ministry, used a 'prediction function', which would indicate they were testing potential responses from Sir Keir as the negotiations reached a climax. There were hundreds of messages shared back and forth between the bot and the diplomats, as if they were role-playing a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister or querying his position. The model developed by Mr Emirali, once an adviser to former Brexit secretary Steve Barclay, was designed specifically to help diplomats and officials prepare for political showdowns. Talks over Sir Keir's Brexit reset went down to the wire, with the agreement only signed off by EU member states hours before a summit between the Prime Minister and Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, respective presidents of the Commission and Council. Wrangling went back and forth between the UK and European Commission delegations. But before any deal could be agreed, it would need the approval of EU member states, who were being kept updated in the wings. During the talks, national capitals were able to influence the EU's red lines by tabling new demands. It is understood that diplomats using the AI chatbot were testing how Sir Keir could respond to these fresh requests. However, it cannot be confirmed because the data is encrypted to protect its users. Versions of the chatbot are being produced to help Europeans navigate Donald Trump's US administration, while it is also being considered to predict outcomes of meetings between despot leaders, such as Russia's Vladimir Putin or North Korea's Kim Jong-un. Similar technologies could be used to predict future military actions taken by the likes of Moscow, or its allies in Iran and China. The Telegraph used the same AI model as the European diplomats to ask the Sir Keir chatbot questions on everything from Brexit to winter fuel cuts. When asked how far he could be pushed to give up British fishing rights in EU waters, the Prime Minister's 'digital clone' insisted that it's unlikely he'd give up more than he already has. And after having to concede to the EU in parts of his Brexit deal, Sir Keir's AI twin said he wouldn't yield to any more of their demands nor join the single market again. The chatbot also said that the families of people using the youth mobility scheme would not be allowed to come to the EU under the Brexit reset, insisting there would be no return to freedom of movement. The Telegraph also asked the Prime Minister's virtual clone about his Rwanda migrant plan, trans women and the winter fuel cuts. The chatbot said he wouldn't reopen the Tories' plan to deport migrants to Rwanda – saying that there is a 0 per cent chance it would happen. Starmer had been a staunch critic of the Rwanda migrant plan – but last week he'd begin talks with other countries to host 'return hubs' for failed asylum seekers. And when asked if trans women are women, the Starmer chatbot pointed to the Supreme Court's historic ruling last month stating that the term 'woman' refers to biological sex in the Equality Act.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Wetin dey inside di new UK-EU deal wey set out post-Brexit relations on key areas
UK and di EU don reach one new deal wey highlight post-Brexit relations on areas wey include fishing rights, trade and defence. Dem go explain beta di full details later. But dia na wetin we know say dey di deal so far. Fishing Farming exports Defence and security Youth experience scheme Passport e-gates Carbon and energy
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK and EU agree 'Brexit reset' trade deal
The UK and the EU have agreed a new post-Brexit "reset" trade deal after months of negotiations. A UK government source said: "All in all, a good deal for all." The talks were the first since Boris Johnson agreed the initial Brexit deal in January 2020, when the UK left the EU. Talks went "down to the wire", with a breakthrough at about 10.30pm on Sunday, as UK fishing rights were, yet again, a major sticking point negotiators had to work through. Sky News understands the EU wanted permanent access to UK waters for fishing, but they have agreed to access for 12 years. There will be no change to the current access for UK fishing communities, with no reduction in British quotas or increase in the amount the EU is allowed to catch. Fishing rights were a major part of the Brexit "leave" campaign, although fishing only accounts for 0.4% of GDP. Sky News understands talks are continuing on a youth mobility scheme to allow people aged 18-30 in the UK and the EU to move freely between countries for a limited period of time. Chancellor Rachel Reeves told a meeting of business leaders it had "not been easy" to reach a deal but said it would "make it easier" for UK businesses. EU relations minister Nick Thomas Symonds said it was a "historic day". "Good for jobs, good for bills, good for borders," he posted on X. "And back on the world stage, with a government in the service of working people." Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the deal "very concerning" and said 12 years EU access for fishing is three times longer than the government wanted. "We're becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again," she said. "And with no details on any cap or time limits on youth mobility, fears of free movement returning will only increase." The UK government had set a deadline of 10am on Monday, with Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds telling Sky News details were still being worked out just three hours before the deadline. A deal was agreed to with just over an hour to go before the deadline. EU leaders will have a formal meeting at Lancaster House this morning, with a news conference to announce the deal set for later. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive Breaking News alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News App. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
