Evidence of meeting #4 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 39th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was authority.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Harbour Manager, Harbour Authority of Woods Harbour
Excuse me, sir, I don't hear you yet.
Harbour Manager, Harbour Authority of Woods Harbour
If you ever need a job, dear—
Conservative
Bloc
Raynald Blais Bloc Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, Ms. Nickerson. I have several questions for you. I am going to try to do it quickly.
First, would you be prepared to provide us with a budget for the administration of your wharves? In other words, is it possible to obtain, in writing, what you have done in recent years? Can we see how you operate with the administrative workload that you have? Can we see the income column and the expense column? Would you be prepared to provide us with your budgets?
Harbour Manager, Harbour Authority of Woods Harbour
I couldn't and wouldn't answer that question without first taking it to my board. I'm not in the position to divulge anything at all about our organization without first taking it to our board. I will, however, do that, and upon their recommendation I will forward whatever they approve to you.
Bloc
Raynald Blais Bloc Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
I am now going to ask you some questions that will allow me to spend a little time on this subject.
What is the total amount of your budget for a year?
Harbour Manager, Harbour Authority of Woods Harbour
Our annual budget varies, but I would say it's probably about $108,000.
Harbour Manager, Harbour Authority of Woods Harbour
Our expenses are probably the same. We are a federally incorporated not-for-profit organization.
Bloc
Raynald Blais Bloc Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
You said at the beginning that expenses are rising. There are various situations. You tell me that your budget is $108,000 this year. Has there been a gradual increase since past years? I am getting answers at the same time; no problem. Has there been a gradual increase in expenses?
Harbour Manager, Harbour Authority of Woods Harbour
Yes, sometimes our increases, of course, would affect the standard of living. If electrical rates go up, of course our expenses go up. The gentleman who takes away our garbage...when fuel prices go up, our expense to him goes up. The only expense I can think of right now that went up significantly and abruptly was our financial responsibility for maintaining our lights. Whatever we formerly would be able to call on Nova Scotia Power for, we no longer can, and that was a drastic and an abrupt increase in our expenses.
Bloc
Raynald Blais Bloc Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
In your testimony, you said that there might have been work to do and that you were prepared to cover part of the costs. Would it be possible to illustrate that with a concrete example of work there was to do? How much money did you provide? How much money did you get from other funding sources, such as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the provincial government and local government?
Harbour Manager, Harbour Authority of Woods Harbour
Yes, I can, sir. For example, when there are storms.... The increased size of our vessels has also caused a problem with mooring. If we have a storm, it's not unusual that I will come down at night or in the morning and get a call that a mooring pile has been pulled off the wharf. It's essential that it be fixed immediately. We assume the cost, the financial responsibility, for doing that. We hire or call a local person, we have that mooring pile replaced, and we assume that cost. We wouldn't call the small craft harbours people and say we need that and then have to wait and go through the process. We take care of those things ourselves.
On the deck of the wharf, occasionally, we have had pothole types of things, which are dangerous to our forklifts and to our unloading procedures, so we'll fix those. We assume that type of thing.
I mentioned our floating docks. We needed or wanted to have them lit so they would be safer, more comfortable, for the men who may be coming after dark.
Bloc
Raynald Blais Bloc Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
What percentage do you have to provide and what percentage do the various levels of government provide?
Harbour Manager, Harbour Authority of Woods Harbour
In those instances, we're providing 100% for our minor repairs. Things we see that need to be done, and need to be done immediately, we pay for them 100%.
Bloc
Raynald Blais Bloc Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
When the repairs are more substantial, how much money do you provide?
Harbour Manager, Harbour Authority of Woods Harbour
For most significant repairs, such as our annual minor work types of things, where our facility is inspected and ladders, piles, fenders, and that type of thing are done, we pay 20% for the general repairs.
Bloc
Harbour Manager, Harbour Authority of Woods Harbour
We're on the southwest shore of Nova Scotia, halfway between the town of Yarmouth and the town of Shelburne.
