Bill C-49 (Historical)

Transportation Modernization Act

An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and other Acts respecting transportation and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts

This enactment amends the Canada Transportation Act in respect of air transportation and railway transportation.
With respect to air transportation, it amends the Canada Transportation Act to require the Canadian Transportation Agency to make regulations establishing a new air passenger rights regime and to authorize the Governor in Council to make regulations requiring air carriers and other persons providing services in relation to air transportation to report on different aspects of their performance with respect to passenger experience or quality of service. It amends the definition of Canadian in that Act in order to raise the threshold of voting interests in an air carrier that may be owned and controlled by non-Canadians while retaining its Canadian status, while also establishing specific limits related to such interests. It also amends that Act to create a new process for the review and authorization of arrangements involving two or more transportation undertakings providing air services to take into account considerations respecting competition and broader considerations respecting public interest.
With respect to railway transportation, it amends the Act to, among other things,
(a) provide that the Canadian Transportation Agency will offer information and informal dispute resolution services;
(b) expand the Governor in Council’s powers to make regulations requiring major railway companies to provide to the Minister of Transport and the Agency information relating to rates, service and performance;
(c) repeal provisions of the Act dealing with insolvent railway companies in order to allow the laws of general application respecting bankruptcy and insolvency to apply to those companies;
(d) clarify the factors that must be applied in determining whether railway companies are fulfilling their service obligations;
(e) shorten the period within which a level of service complaint is to be adjudicated by the Agency;
(f) enable shippers to obtain terms in their contracts dealing with amounts to be paid in relation to a failure to comply with conditions related to railway companies’ service obligations;
(g) require the Agency to set the interswitching rate annually;
(h) create a new remedy for shippers who have access to the lines of only one railway company at the point of origin or destination of the movement of traffic in circumstances where interswitching is not available;
(i) change the process for the transfer and discontinuance of railway lines to, among other things, require railway companies to make certain information available to the Minister and the public and establish a remedy for non-compliance with the process;
(j) change provisions respecting the maximum revenue entitlement for the movement of Western grain and require certain railway companies to provide to the Minister and the public information respecting the movement of grain; and
(k) change provisions respecting the final offer arbitration process by, among other things, increasing the maximum amount for the summary process to $2 million and by making a decision of an arbitrator applicable for a period requested by the shipper of up to two years.
It amends the CN Commercialization Act to increase the maximum proportion of voting shares of the Canadian National Railway Company that can be held by any one person to 25%.
It amends the Railway Safety Act to prohibit a railway company from operating railway equipment and a local railway company from operating railway equipment on a railway unless the equipment is fitted with the prescribed recording instruments and the company, in the prescribed manner and circumstances, records the prescribed information using those instruments, collects the information that it records and preserves the information that it collects. This enactment also specifies the circumstances in which the prescribed information that is recorded can be used and communicated by companies, the Minister of Transport and railway safety inspectors.
It amends the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act to allow the use or communication of an on-board recording, as defined in subsection 28(1) of that Act, if that use or communication is expressly authorized under the Aeronautics Act, the National Energy Board Act, the Railway Safety Act or the Canada Shipping Act, 2001.
It amends the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority Act to authorize the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to enter into agreements for the delivery of screening services on a cost-recovery basis.
It amends the Coasting Trade Act to enable repositioning of empty containers by ships registered in any register. These amendments are conditional on Bill C-30, introduced in the 1st session of the 42nd Parliament and entitled the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act, receiving royal assent and sections 91 to 94 of that Act coming into force.
It amends the Canada Marine Act to permit port authorities and their wholly-owned subsidiaries to receive loans and loan guarantees from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. These amendments are conditional on Bill C-44, introduced in the 1st session of the 42nd Parliament and entitled the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, receiving royal assent.
Finally, it makes related and consequential amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Competition Act, the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, the Air Canada Public Participation Act, the Budget Implementation Act, 2009 and the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act.

Motions in amendment

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.

I have a question for him about the air passengers' bill of rights, which does not really amount to much in the legislation. It is not even described in the bill. We know almost nothing about it. It will be determined later by the Minister of Transport when he decides to publish regulations on the matter.

What does my colleague think of the government's boasting about its much-discussed air passengers' bill of rights in light of the empty shell that we ended up with? We have no assurance that this bill of rights will actually protect Canadian consumers.

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, no, it is not clear.

I will just step off the subject for a minute to look at the regulations pertaining to the railway, and the little black boxes inside the engines. It is not clear exactly what the government is doing. It came up with this idea to put them in for safety. I agree for safety it is probably there, commercially. I know about the black boxes in larger aircrafts and the need for that facility.

Let us go to public air transportation. Are they looking after the public? No. Yes, they put in some regulations. However, it should be affordable to travel in your own country. I lived in northern British Columbia and it used to cost me more to go from Fort St. John to Vancouver than it would cost me, once I was in Vancouver, to go to Europe. People in this country should have the opportunity to travel with a reasonable amount of funds from one part of this country to the other part of this country.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Yellowhead for his speech on this and his knowledge about travel around this country.

We have heard how this bill is not complete. There is so much that is being left to regulation and total power within the minister's discretion of how the regulations are passed. Would he like to comment on how this compares to some of the other legislation we have seen through this House that is poorly prepared, ill-thought-out, incomplete, and left up to the public or others to worry about afterwards? There seems to be consistency here.

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is being consistently rammed down the throats of people without proper consultation.

When we look back again to voice and video recorders on locomotives, there are concerns. I do not believe that there were proper consultations done with the employees of the railroad, the railroads, and the communities. They just decided to do it because they wanted to do it. If they had had better consultations, I do not think that there would be as much mistrust by the railroad employees. They do not know what will happen and how it will affect them. If they had better consultations with the little guy, not with the big guy up there all the time, and remembered the little guy, and talked to that little guy, it would probably solve a lot of these problems.

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I want to say at the outset that I think that Bill C-49 is a very poorly written bill. There is a host of things wrong with it. There is a lack of detail and a lack of specificity in many areas, which I will get into in just a few moments. I will only have a chance to address perhaps two or three of the elements of this bill that are poorly crafted.

I will start with the airline passenger bill of rights component of the bill, but before I get into those comments, I have to say that every time I hear someone speaking on an airline passenger bill of rights, it brings a smile to my face. I recall an exchange several years ago in this place, and many of my learned colleagues who have been around this place for a while may remember the exchange I am referring to. It happened between an NDP member of Parliament—I believe his name was Jim Maloway—and a minister of the government at the time, Mr. John Baird. It was on a Friday morning. Sittings on Friday mornings, as most members know, are usually not that well attended. Many times, subject material comes out of left field. We were in government at the time this exchange took place. We never really knew what questions would be coming from members on the opposition benches. Because so few members attended, it meant that many members who had never had an opportunity to ask a question before could get up to ask something that was of local concern to their constituency. As a result, many of our members did not have direct answers for the questions. In this particular case, Mr. Maloway got up and indicated that he had introduced a private member's bill for an airline passengers bill of rights. In his question to former Minister Baird, the member pointed out that reports had indicated that in Europe a number of airline authorities were thinking, as a cost-saving measure, of charging airline passengers a fee to go to the washroom. Mr. Maloway asked Mr. Baird whether he thought it was right that airlines would be able to charge passengers to go to the bathroom. Mr. Baird, without a moment's hesitation, responded, “Depends”. Members may have to think about that for a moment, but it was one of the cleverest quips and retorts I have heard in my time, and one that I will never forget.

Let us talk about this bill and its suggestions for an airline passenger bill of rights. Once again, there is a lack of specificity and a lack of detail. The bill is suggesting that any passengers who feel aggrieved by an airline or who wish to file a grievance against an airline for a host of different reasons would potentially be able to receive monetary compensation from the government. That means that if a passenger had a poor flight and the airline lost that person's baggage or if passengers were stuck on a runway or the tarmac for several hours for whatever reason, or if passengers felt aggrieved in a number of different areas, they would be able to go after the airline for monetary compensation. This bill suggests that the minister responsible would then have the ability to set a monetary compensation level, but it is completely open-ended. It does not set down any clarity or any rules surrounding this compensation, such as what would prompt it, what would curtail it. The bill merely states that a minister would have the ability to arbitrarily set a monetary level of compensation for a passenger who felt his or her rights had been violated. On that basis alone, I do not think most members in this place could support the bill, because it is too vague. There is no detail illuminating exactly what the responsibilities of the airlines would be and what the responsibilities of the passengers should be. It is poorly written and I would encourage all members to at least go back to their own caucuses, talk to the minister and suggest that he look to at least amend or rewrite that portion of the bill, because it is poorly written.

Also, in a section in the bill dealing with air transportation and screening, in particular, whether or not airports would be able to avail themselves of additional screening devices. On the surface, it appears that might be a legitimate consideration for airports if their traffic were increasing and they felt they needed more screening devices to be able to properly screen passengers. It is something that most members here would think is a legitimate consideration. However, the bill also suggests that if an airport avails itself of a new screening apparatus, then the airline might end up paying for that screening device and passing along the additional cost to the passenger. In other words, rather than the airport authority paying for a screening device, it may pass that cost along to the airline.

The airline would want to recover that cost and would then pass the additional cost on to the passenger. What is that? It is a tax. There is no other way I can define it. It is simply a tax. Canadians are being taxed enough right now. The government, of course, wants to tax them even more, but that is perhaps a debate for another day. However, this provision is poorly thought out, poorly designed, and might end up, as an unintended consequence, taxing airline passengers even more than they are taxed today. It is another example of how the bill is not only poorly thought out, but poorly designed and poorly worded.

I will talk for a moment about another provision in the proposed act, the suggestion that locomotive railways would be able to put in voice and video recorders so that if an accident, God forbid, ever happened, the investigators would be able to determine, through examination of the voice and video recorders, what happened. The government is framing this as a preventative matter and and safety matter. However, I do not agree that it really is. While it may be of some benefit in the case of a major disaster, a major train derailment, for example, it really is not, in my view, a safety-related matter as much as things like brake inspections are. What it would do is open the door to the potential for abuse by railway investigators, who may take that voice and video recorder and use it for other purposes, perhaps for disciplinary action against locomotive, engineers, or union members who happen to be on that railway.

There are privacy laws in this country for a reason, and I am afraid that this particular provision, which may intend to address a safety issue, may have unintended consequences and end up violating Canadians' basic privacy rights. For that reason alone, together with the fact that I think the bill is poorly written, it should be defeated.

I can assure the House that members on the official opposition side will certainly be voting against Bill C-49.

The House resumed from October 25 consideration of Bill C-49, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and other Acts respecting transportation and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts, as reported (with amendment) from the committee, and of the motions in Group No. 1.

Report Stage

[Gagan Sikand, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on May 16, the Minister of Transport introduced Bill C-49, the transportation modernization act, to bring our government's vision of a state-of-the-art national transportation system to fruition.

All Canadians want their transportation system to be safe and secure, green and innovative, while supporting economic growth and the creation of jobs for Canada's middle class. Bill C-49 meets all of these objectives, as well as the government's commitment to develop a fair, accessible, reliable, and efficient transportation system for 2030 and beyond.

One very important element of the bill is the proposal for strengthened air passenger rights, which would be reinforced by regulations. As more Canadians use their air transportation, thanks to increased services and lower fares, recent events at home and abroad have demonstrated the need for strengthened rights for air travellers. Canadian travellers want to know that when they purchase an airline ticket, the air carrier will, in fact, provide the services they have purchased. If the air carrier cannot deliver the purchased services, then the traveller must be provided with a certain standard of treatment and, in some cases, the traveller must receive compensation from the air carrier.

Canadian travellers also expect that they should not have to fight to get the service for which they have paid. As such, air passenger rights must be easy to understand and apply consistently to all airlines, domestic and international. They must apply to all flights from and within Canada and benefit all travellers.

Should Bill C-49 receive royal assent, the Canadian Transportation Agency will be mandated, in collaboration with Transport Canada, to develop a set of clear regulations to ensure a consistent framework for air passenger rights applicable to all carriers. As our government is committed to ensuring this regulatory process moves forward in an open and expeditious manner, further consultations will take place with stakeholders throughout Canada.

The regulations would enshrine standards of care and compensations in a variety of situations faced by air travellers. They would address some of the more frequent irritants, such as providing passengers with clear and concise information about air carriers' obligations and how to seek compensation or file complaints; establishing standards of treatment for passengers in cases of denied boarding, delays, and cancellations, including compensation for inconvenience in situations of overbooking; standardizing compensation levels for lost or damaged baggage on both domestic and international flights; developing clear standards for the treatment of passengers in the case of tarmac delays; ensuring children under 14 years of age are seated in proximity to a parent or guardian at no extra charge; and requiring air carriers to define their policies on the carriage of musical instruments.

Canada is not alone in legislating or regulating specific practices of the airline industry by establishing a framework of passenger rights. Other countries have developed guidelines or regulations to ensure that passengers receive a standard level of treatment for compensation when their flights are delayed or cancelled. This government, however, is committed to establishing air passenger rights that would make our country a world leader in how such irritants would be to be addressed.

For instance, under the regulations that would be developed for air passenger rights, provisions would be included to ensure that no passengers could be involuntarily removed from an aircraft after they boarded as a result of overbooking. If the airline cannot find a volunteer to give up his or her seat, it will need to pay compensation to remedy the inconvenience it has caused. The Minister of Transport has made this commitment and the government intends to fulfill.

Bill C-49 seeks a balanced approach as it relates to air passenger rights, one that would ensure the passenger would be treated fairly, but also one that would allow the air carrier to operate its business in a manner such that it could remain competitive and profitable. For example, the legislation clearly outlines that the requirement for compensation would be utilized only in instances where the air carrier would be directly responsible for the denial of boarding, delay, or cancellation of the flight. While recognizing that overbooking is a standard practice which allows air carriers to keep ticket prices low, passengers who are denied boarding should receive fair compensation when this occurs. This level of compensation would be clearly enshrined in regulations.

This government, however, recognizes that air carriers operate in a complex environment and that there are significant costs associated with safety and security, both in the air and on the ground. Increased competition and pressure from consumers for lower ticket costs have also resulted in a more complex business model for air carriers. There are also factors that are outside an air carrier's control, such as weather and medical emergencies, that may result in a flight being delayed or cancelled. We recognize that these factors must be taken into account when developing an air passengers bill of rights.

In cases where a flight is delayed for reasons beyond an air carrier's control, such as weather delays, passengers have a right to be provided a standard level of treatment, including ongoing communication by the air carrier.

Further, Bill C-49 also contains provisions to increase data collection from air carriers and others in the air travel sector. This would allow the government to measure air carriers' compliance with the regulations and to take corrective action if needed. Both government and air carriers can learn from these data, allowing for decisions to be based on solid evidence.

Should Bill C-49 receive royal assent, Canadian travellers can look forward to strengthened provisions that will better protect their rights. These passenger rights will ensure that Canadians are entitled to a world-leading standard of treatment and compensation.

For these reasons, I ask my hon. colleagues to support Bill C-49 to ensure air passenger rights for Canadians.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, maybe my colleague could provide some additional thoughts on the importance of this legislation.

We went through the committee process. The government, always looking for ways in which it can improve upon legislation, brought forward a number of amendments. Many of those amendments came from the Conservative Party and were successful. Today we have good legislation. Many of the residents who I represent were anxious to see action taken on an air passenger bill of rights. Finally, after years of hearing virtually nothing, we have something tangible and we are moving forward. This is good news for those who travel through our airlines.

Could my colleague provide his thoughts on how important it is that we move forward with the legislation?

[Gagan Sikand, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the transportation system is very vast, very complicated, and is of national importance to Canadians. As was suggested, I sit on the transportation committee and I was very pleased that we worked collaboratively and adopted at least six of nine amendments. We also came back a week early. The process was very smooth, it went well, and Canadians will benefit from the collaboration with all sides of the House.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the compensation people will receive when they have some kind of a travel fiasco, as I understand it, the legislation calls for them to sort out whether it is the airline's fault or the fault of another government agency. I am concerned about the administrative burden of this. Those kinds of things will have to be proven for every claim. Does the member have any idea how much additional resources will be needed to address this administrative burden?

[Gagan Sikand, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the legislation that comes forward will further stipulate any recourse. With respect to the operations of air carriers in relation to those of the consumer, we cannot burden air carriers for things for which they are not responsible. For example, as mentioned in my speech, we cannot hold an air carrier to account if there is an act of weather or a security risk on the ground. Air carriers will be responsible only for those situations for which they are directly responsible.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I note my colleague's remarks focused primarily on the air passengers bill of rights. I know the member sat through many days of testimony as one of my committee colleagues. I would like to ask about a different portion of the bill.

I know the member is from Ontario. When it came to transportation for freight rail, one of the key features of the bill was long-haul interswitching. Previously, a regime was in place that pertained only to the transportation of western Canadian grain. Bill C-49 would expand to different industries and different parts of the country. Being from a different part of the country, does the member see the value in this extended long-haul interswitching as opposed to the simple regime that was in place simply for western Canadian grain previously?

[Gagan Sikand, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as I previously stated, our transportation system is vast and is of national importance. The previous bill did not take all of that into account. What we have put forward now is of the greatest good for the greatest number of people. It certainly creates a lot more competition, which will help everybody in the industry.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to provide some comments on the transportation modernization act, Bill C-49.

As a member of the Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities, I want to start by applauding the work of all of my colleagues on the committee. We dedicated a full week in early September to studying the bill, hearing key witnesses, and working through a clause-by-clause analysis that produced well-considered, well-debated and productive amendments.

While Bill C-49 contains important aspects in marine and air travel services, notably, as my colleague from Mississauga—Streetsville just commented on, the creation of our air passenger bill of rights, I would like to focus my comments on the freight rail provisions. Modernization in this area was, in my view, an important step forward to creating equity for shippers across Canada, while balancing our national interest in ensuring a healthy rail sector.

Bill C-49 would ensure that service agreements establish, as much as possible, equal performance obligations between rail companies and their customers, better conflict resolution, and mechanisms. Therefore, balance is vital. Our producers, shippers, and others need reliable rail service to meet their obligations to customers at home and around the world. In the case of our international customers, it is critical that Canada, as a trading nation, build and protect a reputation as a reliable trading partner.

At the same time, we have to acknowledge that our class 1 rail services, CN and CP, must have the financial ability to maintain and modernize their capital assets across this vast and geographically-challenging nation. As we think about the struggles we had as a nation to see our railways built in the first place, we have to recognize that despite those challenges our country presented, our shippers enjoy among the lowest rates in the world.

Bill C-49 seeks to achieve equity and balance in three important areas: first, by creating a more competitive environment for shippers and producers across Canada when it comes to shipping rates, especially for those who were otherwise captive customers of one rail company; second, by creating service level agreements that establish a level playing field; and, third, by creating measures to improve transparency in the business relationship between the railways and their customers through a more transparent sharing of performance data and service capacity forecasts.

Creating a more competitive environment for otherwise captive customers involves a mechanism known as “interswitching”. Therefore, in response to my friend from Central Nova, here are more details on that.

Simply put, Canada has for years allowed customers within 30 kilometres of a transfer point between rail lines to have one company hand off its shipments to another if that other company offers better rates. The government sets the rate a rail company receives for transferring cars to another carrier, a rate that includes an allowance for the capital investments that the rail company requires for the line's state of good repair and improvement.

In 2013-14, we saw a record prairie grain crop, followed by one of the worst winters in Canada's history. Faced with service shortfalls by our railroads, the previous government expanded the interswitching limit to 160 kilometres, clearing the way for more captive grain shippers in the Prairies to access other rail services, including lines in the U.S. While it appears no shipper actually used the full 160 kilometre limit, the ability to shop for better rates led to improved performance by our railways, both in services and rates.

Bill C-49 introduces “long-haul interswitching”, a 1,200 kilometre limit open to all rail customers, except in two corridors where CN and CP both provide services, those being the Quebec City to Windsor corridor and from Kamloops to Vancouver. In our study of Bill C-49, I was pleased to introduce an amendment to the exclusion corridors that opened up long-haul interswitching to producers and shippers in northern Quebec, as well as both north and southeast of Kamloops in British Columbia.

Bill C-49 would take interswitching, a mechanism that in a limited way provides a competitive shipping rate for grain producers in the Prairies, and make it available in a big way to mines, mills, manufacturers, and producers across Canada.

Bill C-49 would also correct a long-standing inequity between the rail lines and their customers. Until now, a rail company has been able to penalize shippers for delays in loading or unloading cars, but there has been no reciprocal penalty against the railway for failing to provide the agreed to number of cars at the agreed to time.

When we think of the costs involved in keeping a ship waiting in Vancouver harbour for a train to arrive, not to mention the reputational damage we suffer when we do not deliver to customers on time, establishing equitable performance obligations between shippers and the railways makes sense. That is what Bill C-49 will do.

Finally, shippers and rail companies will more properly share responsibilities for the efficient and timely movement of goods. They will do this by accepting the consequences of non-performance in service agreements through reciprocal penalties.

Recognizing that issues will arise in negotiating and performing commercial agreements, Bill C-49 amends the Canada Transportation Act, allowing the agency to provide confidential, informal, low-cost, and expedient dispute resolution assistance. This has the potential to spare rail companies and their customers from the need to pursue expensive and time-consuming remedies. Similarly, access will be expanded to a summary, paper-based final offer arbitration process as a way to resolve disputes. Formerly this was available only when the freight charges involved were less than $750,000. Bill C-49 increases the threshold to $2 million, making this process available to more small and medium-sized shippers.

In our standing committee's study of Bill C-49, and previous studies, witnesses consistently called for more transparency in the performance data that the railroads release. This is important to ensuring that service standards are kept. This, of course, is of interest to producers and shippers because it allows them to fulfill contracts with customers. It also opens the way for them to collaborate more effectively in the management of the rail-based supply chain. The government is also keenly interested in this data because our reputation as a reliable trading partner is of national importance.

Bill C-49 will require the railroads to provide timely waybill information on the shipments they carry. This is data that shippers can reference in their negotiations for service agreements and rates with the rail companies. The data will also be used by the Canadian Transportation Agency to set the interswitching rates that the rail companies will be paid to move shipments to transfer points. Canada's two national railways have extensive operations in the United States, where they have been required to provide waybill data for some time, so this measure in Bill C-49 will put Canadian shippers on an even playing field.

As well, in the interest of transparency, CN and CP will also see new requirements to report in advance on any plans to close rail sidings or connection points, or to abandon sections of track.

Finally, referring back to the importance to farmers, shippers, and Canada's trade reputation of having reliable grain shipments, Bill C-49 will require the railways to provide a report before the start of a crop year which assesses their ability to meet their grain movement obligations. Then, before October 1, the railways will have to review the state of the year's crop and forecasts for the upcoming winter, and provide the government with its contingency plan to move grain in the event we see another scenario like the one we faced in the winter of 2013-14.

Bill C-49 has been an exercise in listening to some long-standing issues in Canada's freight rail system; considering, debating, and refining long-sought measures to make the system more equitable; and achieving a balance that will preserve the health of our rail sector while improving performance for our producers and shippers. It has sought a win-win result, with the greatest win being for Canada itself as the source of high-quality products and resources, and as a reliable and trusted trading partner in the world.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am looking at Bill C-49 and seeing what essentially looks like some missed opportunities to do more to rationalize the relationship between shipping by rail and shipping by sea.

I have a specific point that I want to raise and get the member's thoughts on, and we can perhaps get back to this with other legislation. We have very poor communication and advance planning. The hon. member mentioned better information from the grain growers to know when they are able to ship. However, when they are able to ship by rail, there is often not sufficient capacity.

We then have large container ships coming into the Port of Vancouver. They have as many as four separate compartments that they need to fill with grain. They will hang out in the Port of Vancouver, come in and fill one hold, and then they have go out and wait again. Where they tend to wait are in legal anchorages, for which the Gulf Islands receives no compensation for the use of the space, or the annoyance and inconvenience of the noise and the lights. They wait in anchorages in my riding and in the riding of the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith until they can go back to the Port of Vancouver.

This is inefficient, costly, and an annoyance. I wonder if Transport Canada could not do more to create better planning, which would be an advantage to the shipper and the grain grower, and certainly an advantage to people living adjacent to those areas where container ships are backed up and waiting. That is due to the inefficiencies of our loading and unloading in the Port of Vancouver and connectivity to the trains that deliver the grain.

I hope the question is not too complex for my hon. colleague. I am sure he is familiar with the problem as well.