Thank you, Chair and members of the committee. It's my pleasure to join you today from the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations. Thank you for your service and leadership for Canadians in these consequential times for Canada.
There's no doubt that Prime Minister Carney's commitment to double exports to non-U.S. markets in the next 10 years is the right commitment at the right time.
What else is clear? As it has been stated by my colleagues on the panel, ports across Canada are at the heart of making that outcome a reality. As Canada's largest and most cargo-diverse port, the Port of Vancouver is going to play an outsized role. Today, the value of goods moving through this gateway is over $1 billion per day. We trade with more than 170 economies, with 80% of those exports already destined for markets outside of the U.S. For context, we've just set three years of record cargo volumes, and in 2026, we're on track for a fourth consecutive year of record volumes.
With game-changing projects on the horizon, like the Roberts Bank terminal 2, and the federal government's Port of Vancouver gateway strategy now in motion, we are confident—I am confident—that we're up for the challenge the Prime Minister has set out.
Adding to this momentum is the building Canada strong act. We want to move forward. We want to move more of what Canadians make, mine, harvest and grow, and we believe this bill takes a significant step forward in that direction.
We welcome high-impact measures, including moving toward one project, one decision to streamline federal review processes, codifying supply chain efficiency as an objective in the Canada Transportation Act, changes to increase trade digitization and new measures to promote labour stability while preserving important existing collective bargaining rights.
Here are our recommendations. To maximize the bill delivering on its intent, we offer four suggestions.
One, ensure that fee-setting provisions are workable, maintain flexibility and aren't interpreted in a way that hinders the mandate of ports by interfering with the financing of new, important infrastructure projects. This includes but isn't limited to clarifying the requirement for a port authority to operate on a self-sustaining financial basis—including current and future capital, infrastructure, growth and trade capacity requirements—and not to restrict fee revenues to the direct cost of the service associated with the particular fee.
Two, regarding an indigenous advisory committee, we strongly support the principle of long-term dialogue and engagement with first nations. In our jurisdiction, we've already gone above and beyond the federal government's intentions with Bill C-39 by signing two historic relationship agreements with the Musqueam and Tsawwassen nations and reaching mutual benefit agreements with 27 first nations on the Roberts Bank terminal 2 project. We recommend, therefore, allowing port authorities that have robust vehicles and processes for meaningful engagement already in place to use these rather than be compelled to create new, duplicative structures. This flexibility would be formalized through the letters patent process.
Three, regarding the future creation of the national trade corridors and the national trade corridors council, we underscore the importance of identifying the right performance metrics and the need for a balanced group of representatives that each bring broad supply chain perspectives to the table, rather than a siloed or sectoral interest.
Lastly, four, regarding the transportation project office, we welcome a complementary tool to more quickly advance the range of projects that are necessary. To avoid the risk of duplicative efforts, however, we recommend clarification during implementation that defines the roles of the interplay between the transportation project office, the national trade corridors council, the Major Projects Office and Canadian port authorities' existing regulatory accountabilities and processes, so that we maximize efficiencies and outcomes for Canada.
In closing, we strongly value this government's leadership. With minor refinements, we believe this legislation can help deliver for Canada. Together, we'll be moving more of what Canadians make.
Thank you.