Transport committee  There were three instances that we had in mind. The first was on issues of non-compliance reporting. For example, if a shipper reports that a pilot is not available, that report goes to the pilotage authority. The pilotage authority is able to close the loop and inform the port authority that there might be either a slowdown or a delay in a ship arriving, so they can work together to better manage the vessel traffic within the port waters, the berthing requirements, the tug requirements and that sort of thing.

Transport committee  The waivers vest with an individual, not with a boat. The case I was referring to was a situation where there was an individual who had received the waiver and was on the vessel, but was not on watch at the time. The vessel was continuing to operate within port waters and was deemed to have the waiver.

Transport committee  I'd like to say that we believe that Canadian ports are very, very safe to begin with, but certainly, the changes that would be brought in, the amendments proposed through this act, we believe would continue to enhance the ever-present movement towards ever greater safety. The reality is that the marine environment is changing all the time.

Transport committee  Well, Bill C-48, the ban, has been challenging to address. Certainly, the scope of the surface area was limited, such that two of the port authorities were not included. They're not caught up in that ban, other than in areas that we are flagging on the regulatory side: to be careful about issues, say, that you don't catch a bunkering, for example, or transportation of diesel.

Transport committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Good morning, honourable members. On behalf of the Association of Canadian Port Authorities, we'd like to thank you for the invitation to speak to you today about the proposed amendments to the Pilotage Act. Our association has been involved in the Pilotage Act review since its beginning, and we are pleased to have another opportunity to express the views of our members on another stage in this important process.

Transport committee  Absolutely. Basically, what we want to ensure is that as things are centralized at Transport Canada, whether it's in accident investigation or in issues such as a reporting of non-compliance—that is, non-availability of pilotage services that affect traffic vessel management within port waters—there is a good loop and that port authorities have the opportunity to be part of this process so that we can ensure a good connection to and a maintenance of local knowledge and local relationships to effect real-time local solutions.

Foreign Affairs committee  It would be our pleasure, absolutely.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's an excellent question, and to be honest it's not one we have looked at very closely. It's something I'm afraid I'd have to go back to the membership on and get back to you. I can speculate in terms of cargo movement, and certainly the government has talked about opening up other markets for lumber products which would then be flowing through the Canadian ports, whether through bulk ships or in containers.

Foreign Affairs committee  Kitimat is not a port authority, but if I'm not mistaken in my geography, Kitimat is now within both the tanker exclusion zone and the oil spill prevention zone. We look at it from the point of view of the port authorities, which simply means that any of the petroleum product that is available that would have gone out through Kitimat will go out to Vancouver.

Foreign Affairs committee  The same kind of back-haul system that I talked about has not evolved in the Great Lakes, because the carriers of the products are unique. But I think there is a lot of potential to be looking at the export. Capturing the technology and the knowledge as well around the new fuels such as LNG gives us great potential to expand in a whole area that we haven't been before to serve a global market.

Foreign Affairs committee  I can cite the report, only because the numbers are so easy. It's a biennial analysis, so in 2014 the World Bank did another analysis, and at that time we had jumped from 14th to 12th. Again, going to the point I made earlier, the World Bank points out that it's not the absolute ranking that is important for a country, but it's the percentile within which you find yourself.

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, as the global trading patterns shift and evolve, part of any government policy, any trade policy, is to look at those shifting patterns to see how we can capitalize on them. Concurrent with that is the equipment that actually serves to move all of this stuff around, the 90% of everything that moves around the planet at one point or another.

Foreign Affairs committee  Port authorities are agnostic as to the cargo they handle. We are here to support Canadian government trade and economic policies. As a result, we handle whatever is deemed to be desirable and, of course, legal. I think the comments that were made at the time by the premier point to what I've been talking about all along, which is this notion of symbiosis and interconnectedness.

Foreign Affairs committee  Ports, especially the Port of Vancouver where thermal coal goes, which she was referring to, are multi-use ports. They handle a variety of bulk cargoes, as well as container traffic, as well as the cruises I talked about. On the cargo side, if there's a drop in any one type of cargo, the port and its supply chain partners and its business partners would be looking to augment with other types of cargo, whether increased container traffic or increased bulk in other capacities.

Foreign Affairs committee  I am familiar with it. It's not an area that we've looked at too closely, because most of the pre-clearance we deal with is on the cruise side, and the issue has not evolved that much. The only area that has touched one of my members has been through Toronto, which is also an airport, and they're supportive on the pre-clearance side.