Thank you, Chair.
Good morning, everyone. Thanks for the opportunity to speak with you today.
My name is Shri Madiwal. I'm the director of marine operations and harbour master at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
Let me start by acknowledging that the port authority's Canada Place office is on the ancestral land of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, and I extend thanks to them.
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is a federal agency responsible for the stewardship of the lands and waters that make the port of Vancouver Canada's largest port. As a Canadian port authority, our mandate is to enable Canada's trade through the port of Vancouver by protecting the environment and considering local communities.
Our role as a port authority is to ensure goods are moved safely, efficiently and sustainably. We do this by providing the marine infrastructure and services that provide for a high level of safety and environmental protection.
Vessel safety is a shared responsibility, and the port authority works closely with other federal agencies—Transport Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Pacific Pilotage Authority—to ensure the vessels calling at the port of Vancouver navigate and operate safely.
The port of Vancouver has an industry-leading safety record on vessel navigation. In 2020, the Pacific Pilotage Authority reported 99.90% incident-free assignments. This has been consistent in the last few years.
In case of an incident and/or an emergency within our jurisdiction, the port authority is not the first responder. We rely on other federal and local emergency services.
We collaborate with other organizations, such as the Canadian Coast Guard, the Canada Border Services Agency, the RCMP and the local police and municipalities to oversee safety and security and to respond to any incident within the port. We work with them on emergency response planning to promote safety and emergency preparedness. Usually this takes the form of working with the first responders and other agencies and providing information on the situation through our 24-7 operations centre, our security cameras, our patrol boats and our drone.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to the Canadian Coast Guard team. Their services such as oil spill response, search and rescue and marine traffic control keep Canadian waters and our coast safe.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the Government of Canada's investment in the two emergency towing vessels on the south coast of British Columbia. The two leased vessels have proved useful since their deployment in 2018. These vessels are critical emergency response assets on the coast and play an important role during incident response.
In closing, I want to reiterate that although we have an excellent safety record in the port and on the south coast of B.C., marine accidents can occur at any time. We need to be prepared to respond and protect the mariners and the marine environment, including indigenous local communities and the surrounding waters.
Thank you, Chair. I look forward to answering your questions.