Environment Committee on June 16th, 2026

[Patrick Weiler, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Yes. Very much so.

To get back to your earlier question, you're not going to be able to show, at the sale, how someone can fully take care of it. However, this will be information that will be on hand, let's say, if this boat does become wrecked or abandoned, or it actually sinks to the bottom. You would be able to show the steps you took, as the boat seller, to ensure that didn't happen, so it is about having that on hand. There will be penalties associated with it if you're not compliant with it. There are fines that could be up to $5,000 for that. This will be more of a procedural thing that they'll be able to show.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC]

Okay. I'm really having difficulty seeing how this is workable in the long run, putting a lot of onus on sellers, who don't have that legal expertise. They simply want to sell an asset that is becoming a liability for them.

If you could just elaborate again, how does the seller determine the qualifications of the buyer?

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Answer quickly, please, Mr. Weiler.

[Patrick Weiler, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Maybe we can get to that in the next round. Essentially, this was just meant to get around those bad-faith sales in which someone is selling this, for a nominal amount, to get around those responsibilities. I can elaborate on that in the next round.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Thank you very much.

We'll now turn to Mr. St-Pierre for five minutes.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd just like to take this brief moment to wish a happy birthday to the member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley. I believe he's turning 35 or 36, so now we have a live recording of your birthday.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Ellis Ross, Conservative, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

I'm 34.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Oh, are you 34? I'm sorry. I had the wrong year, but happy birthday.

I'll move on to more serious matters.

To my colleague, Mr. Weiler, have you heard any concerns directly from folks in your riding about abandoned boats landing on the shores or anywhere in your riding? Can you maybe speak a little about what you're hearing from local residents, what you're hearing from first nations communities, locally elected officials or harbour authorities, even? I'm curious to hear about what it's like on the ground.

[Patrick Weiler, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

As I mentioned before, this is an issue that is, obviously, a very visible one when you see abandoned and derelict vessels out in the water, and it's a growing issue. From one end, yes, it's an eyesore, but on the other end you're seeing examples of these vessels actually polluting the water and causing major environmental impacts.

I can give examples of that pollution leading, in a lot of places where normally clams would be harvested, to first nations no longer being able to do that. We have harbours where boaters are having challenges navigating through them, because there are numerous vessels congregating in different areas.

I hear it from marina owners, who are called in the middle of the night by someone who says, “One of these boats is sinking.” Then they need to seek the ability, from the Coast Guard, to actually go to clean them up. It's one thing if you're close to an urban area, if the Coast Guard is near that or if you're near where the authorities are. However, in many cases, particularly throughout coastal British Columbia, they happen far away from that, where you don't have that ability to rapidly respond. This then leads to many, many more significant issues taking place.

This is one of those issues that I think brings all people together, because they know it's a massive issue. It's one that falls within, or in between, different jurisdictional responsibilities. This is meant to prevent the problem from getting worse.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Great. Thank you.

Can you give me examples of any businesses, local governments or environmental groups that have come out in support of Bill C-244? If so, can you provide maybe a list of supporters to this committee?

[Patrick Weiler, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Yes, absolutely.

West Coast Environmental Law, Surfrider Foundation, Ocean Legacy Foundation, the Georgia Strait Alliance, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, the Dead Boats Disposal Society, the Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative Society and the Marine Life Sanctuaries Society of British Columbia are some of the environmental organizations that have supported it. More locally, in my riding, the Sunshine Coast Regional District has endorsed it, as have the District of Sechelt, the Town of Gibsons, Bowen Island Municipality, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, the District of Squamish, the shíshálh Nation and Squamish Nation.

You can see that there's broad support for this. There are municipalities that are taking their own action and first nations that are taking their own action. I can tell you that there are some first nations that want to build shipbreaking facilities and have those recycling opportunities take place on their territory. There are municipalities that are taking steps to prevent anchorages in certain areas, so that you don't have those boats that become problem vessels there.

All these organizations are doing what they can to address the problem. There are steps that the province needs to take, and there are steps that the federal government needs to take. This is part and parcel of that.

[Eric St-Pierre, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Great. That's a pretty long list. I'm looking forward to reading it.

I love the name of your riding, Sea to Sky. I understand that tourism is really important for your riding. In 45 seconds, can you explain the importance of this bill to tourism in your riding and across British Columbia as well?

[Patrick Weiler, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

I can give you a good example of this. There's a bed and breakfast in my riding, in the Porpoise Bay area. This bed and breakfast was actually highlighted by The New York Times as one of the top destinations in western North America, but since that time, this issue has become worse and worse. You have a number of derelict vessels proliferating in the area and major pollution happening. It has now become a major issue for her brand. People who go there are expecting this beautiful natural environment with access to the water. Now they're seeing issues with major pollution. I know that's present in many other parts of coastal Canada. Mr. Greaves would probably be able to speak to issues in his own riding where that's taking place as well.

I'd say that's part of it. The other part is that many of these vessels end up becoming navigation risks. That's an issue for folks from within Canada and also those who come from other countries who want to experience what our country has to offer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Thank you.

I will note that the bells are ringing now. As discussed, we'll continue until 10 minutes before the vote. I think we should be able to wrap up our last three speakers.

Mr. Leslie.

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Just out of curiosity—this is some weird timing—I'm assuming that we can run through until 4:30 before we release. Are any of us actually going back to the House? If we all vote here, we could probably run very close—

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

I'm happy to do it virtually if—

[Branden Leslie, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

There's no point in pausing for the sake of pausing. If we all agree, we could probably get the officials in. I don't know if they have statements at the beginning.

We could probably get that done, take our pause to vote and then come back without physically leaving.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Is everyone good with the online vote?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Shannon Miedema]

Okay. Excellent.

Mr. Bonin, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to come back to one point, Mr. Weiler. I believe you mentioned the size of the boats or vessels that would be subject to the act. Could you elaborate on that? Does a simple small rowboat count among the vessels for which the owner's declaration and the buyer's capacity would be mandatory? Also, what is the maximum size?

[Patrick Weiler, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Only vessels longer than 5.5 metres are subject to the current Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Thank you.

Let's go back to the amendment you're proposing to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. You say that an owner would have to prove that they took all appropriate measures to prevent, for example, a spill of substances or oil. However, how do we determine whether they actually took all necessary measures to prevent that? It's still rather vague. You might point to ignorance and the adage that “ignorance of the law is no excuse”, but how do we define that?

[Patrick Weiler, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

That's a good question.

I think it's impossible to have a list of everything that should be done by the various authorities. That's something the courts will be able to determine based on the specific circumstances of each case. I think it's difficult, but the law is based on the principle of what a reasonable person would do in the same situation. If you don't act irresponsibly, you won't be committing an offence under this act. This is something that will be determined by the judges, who will base their decisions on the various arguments presented to them.