Transport committee  When the three ports in the St. Lawrence announced that collaboration initiative, we were extremely supportive. I won't say it was the first time for them, but it was a big step for especially three ports to come together and decide to co-operate both operationally and potentially commercially.

Transport committee  Protecting communities and the environment is certainly reasonable—no argument there—but make no mistake: Anchorages are as important to the port as are the various terminals and docks and piers within the port confines itself. In fact, anchorages should really be considered part of the critical infrastructure of a port.

Transport committee  In theory, I suppose, yes, if—

Transport committee  Thank you. I'll take that. Generally, having worked in that system for over seven years, I think that most ports are doing a pretty good job. My exposure to most of the other ports across the country indicates that they have had those principles at heart most of the time, especially in the last few years.

Transport committee  Fortunately, we don't burn bunker C anymore and haven't for a lot years. The drive to decarbonization of shipping is obviously a global initiative. It will take a number of factors all coming together. Frankly, the ports really won't have the ability to drive that. They will need to be ready to respond for what the new fuels are and the production of those fuels.

Transport committee  I suppose you could make the argument that, if the movement of ships is more efficient, you'll thereby decrease the volume of ships and therefore improve the sound levels.

Transport committee  That's a key objective. Will the traffic flows be diminished enough to make a marked difference in that degree for underwater noise and some of the other factors? I think that only time will tell.

Transport committee  The new reporting requirements are certainly going to be a burden for the small ports—there is no question. The problem with that, from a shipping industry perspective, is that the cost will be put back onto the users of the port, whether they be the port tenants or the shipping lines calling the port.

Transport committee  Ports have a unique way of describing themselves. Sometimes they'll describe their size in terms of total tonnes of goods shipped. Sometimes they like to refer to the number of containers. Then they'll refer to other volume measures. So, the answer is that it depends. I'm sorry that isn't a clear answer.

Transport committee  Thank you for your question. We are fundamentally opposed to interim orders and ministerial orders and directions to vessels as normal forms of governance. We see those types of instruments having the potential to be abused and to be used more frequently than they should be and to be used as a method to essentially circumvent the normal regulatory process for which there are extensive consultations and inputs from industry in order to get to the right place.

Transport committee  Thank you. Not enough detail that would help with any drafting of new wording...but certainly any way to circumscribe those powers a little bit better would be helpful, or just remove them altogether and let the normal regulatory process take its course if a change is needed.

Transport committee  Those were interesting points I was listening to. We were refraining from speaking to the governance aspects and leaving that to the port authorities and others to very strongly articulate, but we certainly wouldn't want to see that process politicized any more than it already is.

Transport committee  We see some, absolutely. Particularly on the data side, that is definitely an improvement. I think the amendments really call out the need for the system to be more resilient and more flexible to deal with the problems we have had with supply chains in the last couple of years.

Transport committee  You can always do more. That's for sure. It's a very large bill covering five or six different acts, so it's a very complex piece of writing. Some of the points that Wade just made we can certainly support. It's not perfect. That's for sure. There are certainly some gaps, but on balance, we view it as at least being a step in the right direction.

Transport committee  On data sharing, we were very pleased to see that mentioned in the bill. That is something that we, as a country, have been lacking momentum with to really turn the page on digitization in the transportation sector, so to see it brought into the bill was very positive. There's now some serious work to be done to create the platforms and tie the platforms together.