Evidence of meeting #30 for International Trade in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was containers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
My questions are probably addressed to the Association of Canadian Port Authorities and the Canadian National Railway Company.
Our attention was drawn to the continued congestion at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert and the fact that import container downtime has forced CN to establish temporary container terminals in Toronto and Montreal.
What is the current situation at the Port of Montreal?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of Canadian Port Authorities
Honestly, I'd rather have one of the Montreal representatives answer the question. I don't know enough about their business to answer for them.
Chief Marketing Officer, Canadian National Railway Company
For the port of Montreal, we move out one freight train every day. Basically, it contains Toronto, Detroit, and Chicago freight.
I get a daily report that says where we are on container storage waiting to leave in the port of Montreal, so I'll say as of today, in the four terminals, we have two trains' worth of containers to move, which is about a normal situation. I can't see what's waiting there for Canadian Pacific and I can't see what's waiting there for trucks, but overall, we're in a very good situation and we have been all summer.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
So, in general, the situation is good. Do you anticipate the opposite, i.e., an increase in congestion?
Chief Marketing Officer, Canadian National Railway Company
We do not, from the port of Montreal, sir, not at all.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
That's fine.
In your opinion, nothing is currently affecting the operations of the Port of Montreal with regard to the containers there. Is that correct?
Chief Marketing Officer, Canadian National Railway Company
We do not at all, from the supply chain side. I know they've had lots of labour issues there over time in the different terminals, but they don't, once it's on a rail car or once it's out of the gate on a truck.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
I thank you, and in that case, I can only rejoice.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Thank you very much.
We go now to Mr. Masse for two and a half minutes.
Go ahead, please.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I know Mr. Wilson wanted in on the last question, but I do want to start with this.
I'm glad you're doing tours now. Ten years ago I went to Vancouver to tour your port, and when I showed that I was actually meeting with the CBSA union over the detector dogs, my invitation was rescinded. I actually toured your facility from the fenced perimeter. I'm curious, and I want to add to that what's happening with the detector dogs out there if there's anything you want to add on that. That's an issue I've been working on for a long time.
That was a long time ago, so I'm not saying you're at fault, but I saw your port virtually from the fence.
Vice-President, Environment and External Affairs, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority
I'm very disappointed that your invitation was declined after that.
I can't speak to the detector dogs, but I can tell you that we do work very closely with CBSA. We actually have two container inspection facilities in the Lower Mainland. We recently finished building a new inspection facility for CBSA on the Tsawwassen First Nation lands adjacent to the Deltaport complex, so there is a strong presence of CBSA in the port. There are also scanners at the different container terminals for containers that are coming into the country as well, so CBSA is very present. They're present in terminals and they're present in the inspection facilities.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
What I was out there for—and it was just a sensitive moment, I think, from the start—was that the detector dogs were being retired. They can clear off a ship within three hours versus it sometimes taking three weeks. That was the point—trying to keep those programs in place, and I know they're there.
Really quickly, again to Mr. MacDonald, what can we do with regard to a fairer process? The OEMs, as an example, cause stress down the supply chain on other small and medium-sized businesses. Are there any suggestions at all? I know it's not really your role, but you're kind of the operator in between the two. What can we do to alleviate the forces that pinch the small guy or girl?
Chief Marketing Officer, Canadian National Railway Company
That's a tough one to answer, because it's all about commercial agreements between the big guy and the small guy. We're the guy in the middle who doesn't see either one, so I'd hate to say there's an easy solution there.
NDP
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Okay, fair enough. You just see it first-hand every day, I'm sure.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Liberal
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
Thank you very much.
I have a lot of questions and very little time.
Mr. MacDonald, it seems to me you're saying the Milton facility was eight years in planning and three years to build, so it's eleven years in total.
Chief Marketing Officer, Canadian National Railway Company
It was eight years getting it through the regulatory process, not planning.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
Yes, eight years for the regulatory process, and now another...how many years, do you think, until it's completed?
Chief Marketing Officer, Canadian National Railway Company
Roughly three, as we would comply with the 300 different conditions put on the approval.
October 18th, 2022 / 12:10 p.m.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
I don't have time to get it on the record today, but would you be prepared, on behalf of your company, to submit a report on why it took eight years to go through the regulatory process?
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
Thank you very much.
Mr. Gooch, you talked about en route clearances being available in the United States but not in Canada. What's the impediment here? Why hasn't it happened? It sounds like a big issue.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of Canadian Port Authorities
That's one I'm definitely going to pass to Debbie Murray as the subject matter expert on that one.
Senior Director, Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Association of Canadian Port Authorities
Thank you.
My understanding—and this is something that's being brought forward by our members—is that currently there's an issue around policy. It's a policy limitation as well as a human resource limitation. It's a conversation we continue to have with CBSA.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
Do you know how long have you been having that conversation with CBSA?