Mr. Linington, please.
Evidence of meeting #47 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was region.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #47 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was region.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:55 p.m.
Member, Central and Arctic, National Harbour Authority Advisory Committee
Yes. I think when we're talking about fatigue, if you take a group of volunteers and they go to work and put in 1,000 hours, say, and at the end of their 1,000 hours their facility looks much improved, they walk away and they're smiling, they're happy. They're not fatigued. If that same group of individuals puts in that 1,000 hours and, because there was no investment in their facility, at the end of 1,000 hours their facility looks rundown and no better than when they started, that group is fatigued.
As long as we see improvement in our facilities as we go along, the fatigue isn't nearly as much an issue. But the guys who are putting in a whole bunch of hours and seeing their facility continually run down further and further, they get fatigued.
4:55 p.m.
Member, Pacific, National Harbour Authority Advisory Committee
I'm a commercial fisherman. We've been in that fire a long time, right? We don't feel the heat any more.
You know, it is an issue. You look behind and you don't see a lot of young people coming up into the fishing industry. You hope things are going to get better, because that's going to allow you to recruit more volunteers.
I've been involved in this, you know, Pacific and these advisory boards for a long time. Pretty much, if you have a problem, fishermen can solve it. At the table, you look at the insurance issues, the maintenance manuals, the initiatives that have come out of the advisory boards--we've solved quite a few problems for volunteers in this process. You know we can do that.
We're not worried about volunteer fatigue, if we can show progress. I think everybody says that. At the end of the day, you have to show that you're replacing the planks on your dock. You just have to. Otherwise, you lose them. Yes, like Morris says, what's fatigue, right? We're fishermen.
November 26th, 2009 / 4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Tilly O'Neill-Gordon Conservative Miramichi, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you and welcome, all of you. It certainly is nice to have you here.
Coming from Miramichi, New Brunswick, I certainly appreciate the value of our wharves and appreciate the work that was done by you and all volunteers.
One person mentioned municipalities,and I'm wondering if there are any other breaks that we could consider that municipalities would give you, such as maybe exemption of taxes, or if there's anything else they could do for you.
As you know, we are putting a report together. If there's one thing you want us to take back to the government, of course, it would be more money. If there are any other suggestions you'd like to throw at us, we'd be completely glad to have them.
4:55 p.m.
Member, Maritimes and Gulf, National Harbour Authority Advisory Committee
As far as taxes, I know in the Maritimes and gulf region we had to deal with that in New Brunswick; in Nova Scotia we're exempt. In New Brunswick we were successful in changing that. I believe we're exempt in Prince Edward Island as well. There may be challenges in some of the other regions, but the harbour authorities generally don't face the issue of taxes of the structures.
There were some issues with previous bills, and as I say, I can't speak in detail for the other regions.
From the Maritimes and gulf perspective, other than dollars, which come to the forefront every time--and I know dollars aren't the answer to everything, but the dollars will address a lot of the issues--there's enforcement, as I mentioned earlier. Fee collection we've talk about. We're harbour authorities without an authority. We're running the government facilities, and if you end up with an operational issue it's not just fee collection, they are operational issues of the harbour and the vessel that's tied there. Down goes the volunteer and you have to deal with or address the issue.
The vessel's in a spot where it's creating an issue. What abilities do we have to deal with that? In many cases, especially the Maritimes and gulf region, these people live in the communities; you know them. They could be relatives, and you're trying to deal with it. You don't have the ability to do it. If you look at harbour ports and other things, there are allowances for that. We've talked about people with fee collection becoming a debt to the crown, but that wouldn't really solve a whole lot of issues, because in that particular situation the funds would go there and not to the harbour authority.
But there has to be some ability, some enforcement mandate. Whether it comes under conservation and protection as an expansion of their role, there has to be some support for the volunteers. You can't necessarily be asking the volunteers to do it. We've done that. People have to duck punches on the wharves, so that's a pressing issue.
Another thing we're seeing, and I don't think we've mentioned too much about it here today yet, is the expansion of aquaculture and the impacts that's having in the Maritimes and gulf region, and I know in other regions. It's revenue generation and everything. But again, when that's occurring it's having a significant impact on our small craft harbours facilities, just to address the needs of the aquaculture industry and how we work with that.
I'll turn it over now to any of the others.
5 p.m.
Member, Newfoundland and Labrador, National Harbour Authority Advisory Committee
I'd like to say for the Newfoundland region a lot of our municipalities will exempt you from taxes if you talk to them. We are exempt from taxes, water--we don't pay for any of it. But there are places in the Newfoundland region where people do have to pay taxes. So I'd like to see it become the law that we would be exempt.
5 p.m.
Member, Pacific, National Harbour Authority Advisory Committee
I think in the Pacific region we are much the same as Newfoundland. There are harbour authorities that give donations to the municipality in lieu of taxes, but by and large most harbour authorities are exempt. Some municipalities insist on being paid taxes.
We're encouraged by the recent court case in Ontario, which has said that harbour authorities are exempt from taxes in that province, so I would assume that's going to be something we can look forward to. As Morris says, that should be blanket across the country. Quite frankly, our harbour authority would refuse to pay them anyway. We're a federal facility, so come and take it. What are you going to do?
If there's one clear message I think needs to be sent, it's the work these volunteers do managing these assets for the federal government. I think Stacy talked about it earlier. If you look at the value we've added to your asset base in the last ten years, it's phenomenal. It's probably not stressed enough. We talk about the volunteers, but we probably don't stress it enough, because we've spent so much time just talking about money. But that's one message I would send back.
5 p.m.
Member, Central and Arctic, National Harbour Authority Advisory Committee
One other message I would like to see come out of this is that this is a group of commercial fishers from across the country. There are people among us who aren't in commercial fishing, but for the most part we represent the commercial fishing industry from coast to coast and across the prairies. This body should be used as an advisory body any time you're considering changes that have anything to do with any fishery right across the country. If we're used in that capacity we'll be better equipped to deal with the changes that are made in the fisheries across the country. We wouldn't be blindsided by some of the things such as the derelict vessels and the rest of it if we were considered a consultative body when you're making decisions that affect the fisheries.
5 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Rodney Weston
Thank you very much.
Gentlemen, on behalf of the committee, I'd like to thank you all for coming today and appearing before our committee. Thank you to the other members who are here as well for taking the time out of their busy schedules to come and provide advice to this committee as we prepare our report. We certainly do appreciate the work that each of you does within your respective communities. We certainly do appreciate your time and commitment.
Thank you very much, gentlemen.
Members, before we adjourn I just want to remind you that next week, on Tuesday and Thursday, the committee will meet in Room 112-N, Centre Block.
The meeting is adjourned.