Transport committee  The voluntary aspect is a bit difficult.

Transport committee  Well, you can be prepared to a certain extent. I don't want to leave the impression that if something happens we don't know what to do. We do know what to do. The issue is that if something happens, it's much easier to a situation that you know may happen, rather than be surprised because there is something in there.

Transport committee  As far as our operators go, it is clear that there will be a shortage of skilled workers over the next few years. That will affect jobs on some ships. To discuss the problem, we organized a round table a few months ago that involved the colleges and universities that train our employees.

Transport committee  I'm talking about engineers, about the people in charge of safety on the ships, and especially machinists. There is going to be a labour shortage over the next few years. That's clear. We think it's important to invest now in training new workers for certain jobs so that we can make sure we have the workers we need to sail our ships safely.

Transport committee  Well, there are a number of steps to be taken, for sure. It will depend on the operator and on the type of ship. Clearly, the crew and the captain are in charge. Instructions will be given to passengers. There would probably be an evacuation fairly quickly on that. There would be containment measures taken.

Transport committee  The concern is between the auditing, the regulation, and the real impact on the ground. There is some concern around that, and Transport Canada needs to do its job on that front.

Transport committee  For those instances, yes.

Transport committee  The definition is important because if you define a short-run ferry and you use the term “short-run ferry” in one regulation and you use the same term in another regulation, but the definition is not the same, then you have a problem. The term “short-term ferry“ should refer to exactly the same thing in the same definition.

Transport committee  Absolutely.

Transport committee  We do agree that it should be expanded to all ships. I think the only issue is the auditing of that, and at this point, that often rests with the classification societies. It is not reasonable to expect the classification society to go for an affordable amount to a ferry that is offered at very low cost in northern Manitoba where you have to travel by plane, take multiple cars and, on occasion, a float plane and everything else, and charge a minimum amount.

Transport committee  I won't get into the debate on whether the 25% has resulted in fewer inspections or anything else. There may be efficiencies that were found and different things. That's for the government to debate and to argue. What I can tell you is that at this point we believe that Transport Canada is doing an adequate job on inspections.

Transport committee  It's fairly stable. We saw a little decrease in 2011-2012. I think we're seeing a little bit of a pickup in 2013.

Transport committee  That's correct. First of all, I'll say that we have no ships registered in Liberia. All of them are registered in Canada, thank God, at this point.

Transport committee  No, we do have an SMS system, a voluntary system for operators. They are audited by the classification societies.

Transport committee  No, it's a government-designated body. It's for international companies.