Fisheries Committee on May 9th, 2017

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Robert Sopuck]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Arnold, you have five minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you both for being here today.

My first question goes right back to your opening statements, Mr. Lewis-Manning. You mentioned that shipping needs to be reliant on a transparent, predictable, and adaptable process.

Can you tell me how you get predictable and yet remain adaptable? Are those two terms not contradictory?

[Robert Lewis-Manning]

Thanks for your question. It's a good one.

I don't consider them contradictory. Industries can adapt over time if they understand where they need to go, and it's being able to identify those objectives long ahead so that they have the time to put innovative ideas to adapting. It's establishing those clear objectives early, which are important, so that industry and government can put their heads down and start thinking about how to adapt to any specific objective.

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

That will lead into another question, then. This government has set targets of 5% protected areas by the end of 2017, and 10% by 2020. Do you think those are reasonable targets, keeping in that predictable and adaptable theme? Is there going to be time for the shipping industry to adapt and yet remain viable on a predictable basis, using your terms?

[Robert Lewis-Manning]

I think we have a good understanding of where the federal government is looking at conservation objectives, so yes, but the devil is in the detail. I think a lot of the management plans that support protected areas will develop past those deadlines and there will be some iterative aspects to that implementation, but overall I think those targets can be met.

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

So you're indicating the areas may be identified but the actual management plans may not be fully developed by those timelines.

[Robert Lewis-Manning]

Yes, that's my expectation.

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

Okay, thank you.

For both of you, we know how important timing is to the shipping business. I've taken a little bit of a history lesson on railways in B.C. The Kettle Valley Railway was built across southern British Columbia in the early 1900s was built simply so that they could get their silk product from Asia to the New York markets basically hours earlier so they could get the best price.

How important is timing to the modern-day shipping process? Are hours or days important in that process?

I know that the Port of Prince Rupert seems to have an advantage that way, being a closer port to Asia.

[Don Krusel]

Thank you for that question because it's absolutely critical. The reason the Port of Prince Rupert has had the success it has had over the last 10 years in its intermodal traffic is that we offer the fastest and most reliable supply chain between Asia and continental North America of any west coast port in North America.

The shippers continually talk about how their goods are making it to their final destination hours.... They talk in days, but it gets down to hours. There is competitiveness on the west coast, and the reason Vancouver and Prince Rupert are so competitive is that we have that advantage. The railway system and our proximity to the Asian marketplace are what give us that advantage. Time is of the essence. That's why the protection of the marine shipping lanes is so critically important.

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

Basically it's 100 years down the road and those hours are still critical in shipping.

[Don Krusel]

Absolutely, and they'll become more critical, actually, as time goes by and as the products you're shipping have higher value.

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

Really quickly, with the increased traffic, but also the increase in technology and training, would you say shipping is becoming safer or less safe as time goes on?

[Don Krusel]

Absolutely. You can look at any kind of graph, even showing marine spills. The volume is increasing and the number of incidents is decreasing dramatically. Like every other transportation mode, everybody is looking for ways to improve it.

One has to recognize that the cargo on those vessels is very valuable to the owners of that cargo and they are looking to protect it and they're looking to ensure that the vessel moves from point A to point B safely and that it gets there, gets there on time, and the entire cargo gets there safely.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Robert Sopuck]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Morrissey, you have five minutes.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Thank you, Chair.

I have a couple of questions that may seem simplistic.

As the vessel size increases, does the noise emitted from the vessel increase at the same ratio?

[Robert Lewis-Manning]

The only answer I can give you is that we don't know yet. The reality is that we see that newer vessels are generally more quiet because the design requirements on them are more stringent. I would expect that newer vessels, including the larger ones, would be more quiet than older, smaller vessels.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

In terms of the ability of the shipping industry to increase its volume without increasing the number of movements, is the technology and engineering there to continue to reduce the sound impact on the marine environment?

[Robert Lewis-Manning]

We believe it is. We actually want to measure it this fall.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

So you will be measuring it.

[Robert Lewis-Manning]

Yes. We'll be looking at specific noise from specific vessels. We're already doing that, in fact, in western Canada. Every vessel that comes into Vancouver runs over an acoustic range and its noise signature is measured. As we get newer vessels, we hope to see a trend that those vessels are also more quiet.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Is there established data in that field?

[Robert Lewis-Manning]

There is. Both the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert have acoustic monitoring. It's relatively new, but it is probably on the leading edge globally for developing that type of database.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

I want to follow up on the chair's question about the balance between protecting the marine environment and commercial activity. As a society that continues to demand more—greater standards of living, higher standards of living, greater wealth—we can only achieve that by economic growth, and economic growth is pretty well driven by trade. We must find balance. Living on the east coast of Canada, trade is important to us. The fishery is also extremely important.

You made a comment, Mr. Krusel, that as we begin moving on marine protected areas or enhancing them, first we establish a designated marine transport corridor and then look at the implications for enforcing it and its impact. Perhaps you could elaborate on that.

[Don Krusel]

I don't think there's much more to say other than the fact that, as you pointed out and as I stated in my opening comments, Canada's lifeblood is trade. The economic sustainability of this country is based on our ability to trade internationally. On the west coast especially, the economic activity is growing in terms of Asia Pacific, so for us to maintain our economy, we have to maintain our trade lanes.

The trade lanes are not just land-based, with the railroads and the highways. They're also water-based. We have designated shipping lanes today. When we look at marine protected areas, we need to ensure that those marine trade lanes are protected. We have to find the balance to ensure that the marine ecosystem is protected and at the same time protect our commercial highways to international markets.

[Robert Lewis-Manning]

I'll be very quick, Mr. Chair.