Transport Committee on Dec. 11th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 95 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Tuesday, September 26, 2023, the committee is meeting to resume clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-33, An Act to amend the Customs Act, the Railway Safety Act, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, the Marine Transportation Security Act, the Canada Transportation Act and the Canada Marine Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely by using the Zoom application.

Colleagues, to help us once again with the clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-33, I'd like to welcome back our witnesses.

Joining us once again from the Department of Transport, we have Sonya Read, director general, marine policy; Heather Moriarty, director, ports policy; Rachel Heft, manager and senior counsel, transport and infrastructure legal services; and Amy Kaufman, counsel.

Also, once again, we have our legislative clerk, Monsieur Philippe Méla. Welcome back.

Colleagues, we left off with new BQ-5.

I see a hand raised by Ms. Zarrillo.

Ms. Zarrillo, if you would like to get us started on that discussion, by all means, the floor is yours.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's nice to see you again, and thank you for welcoming me back to the committee. I'm standing in for Taylor Bachrach today.

Yes, it was my understanding that the discussion was on amendment BQ-5. I know there was some discussion in the last meeting about an amendment to that and I did want to propose, after some legal consultation, a subamendment.

I think that the Bloc and the NDP are on the same page here. We want to hold the government to account to ensure that the export of thermal coal they've promised to prohibit by 2030 becomes a reality, while still ensuring that the rights of workers are respected in the transition. I understand that in the previous meeting there was some concern over the wording of “must” and what has come back is that “may” is a standard way to address the bit of—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

My sincere apologies, Ms. Zarrillo; I just want to confirm if you are presenting the same subamendment that was put forward by Mr. MacGregor at the last meeting. Is that the case, or is this something new?

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

It's similar, but it's new. We've had legal counsel, so it's new in that the wording is new.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Before we do that, we would need to ask for consent to get rid of the previous subamendment before we can entertain the new subamendment that you're putting forward.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

I guess when I say the new subamendment, I'm just looking at the words “must” and “may”. I understand that it caused a little bit of discussion at last meeting, so I'm not sure that it's the full....

I'm hearing that it was withdrawn in the last meeting. That subamendment was withdrawn in the last meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

It wasn't withdrawn, but just to be clear, you'd be presenting the same one but replacing the word “may” with “must”. Is that correct, Ms. Zarrillo?

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Well, there's also a date change, so let's just withdraw the whole other one, and I'm going to be tabling another one.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Do we have unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment put forward by Mr. MacGregor at the previous meeting?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

It is withdrawn.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

That's great. Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

You would like to put this one forward, Ms. Zarrillo. Is that correct?

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Yes, and I think everyone should have a copy.

Do they, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I'm just confirming that, Ms. Zarrillo. I'll be right with you.

We've received it, and we are going to distribute it to all members right now.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Can I go ahead and read it, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Please do in the meantime.

Thank you, Ms. Zarrillo.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

BQ-5 proposes that clause 120 of Bill C-33 be amended by adding subsection (3) after line 30 on page 77. They propose that it be amended by—and my dog wants to get into this today—replacing “Regulations made under paragraph (1)(a) must prohibit” with the following: “the Governor in Council may make regulations” respecting the prohibition, and adding the following after subsection 1.1....

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair; I'm going to mute.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

We're fine with it, Ms. Zarrillo, as long as you tell us what the dog's name is.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

I am so sorry; there's no one else home.

All right. Can I continue?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Yes, please.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Is it very loud there?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

It's not that loud, Ms. Zarrillo. I think we're okay.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

To continue, “(1.2) In making regulations under subsection (1.1) the Governor in Council must consult with relevant trade unions on ways to protect port workers who will be affected by the regulations, including by providing for continued collective bargaining, for the respect of collective agreements, for the creation of alternate opportunities in the marine transportation sector and for pension bridging”—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I'm sorry, Ms. Zarrillo; I have to cut you off once again. I don't think you're reading the version that we have. I just want to confer with the clerk.

It's the old one, so just give us one second here.

My apologies, Ms. Zarrillo. The NDP sent the wrong version to the clerk, and it was distributed to all members. Therefore, you're reading the wrong one. Give us a second here while we make sure that the right version is distributed to all members, and then you can read that off and we can have the discussion.

Thanks for your patience. The clerk tells me it may take a couple of minutes, so we're going to suspend for five minutes.

This meeting is suspended.