No, I believe it is necessary.
Evidence of meeting #37 for Public Accounts in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was board.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #37 for Public Accounts in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was board.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Well then, why aren't you doing it? You raised it. Why don't you do it, then?
Capt Sean Griffiths
There were a multitude of reasons. One was staff changeover, not the right people in the right places, departure of certain personnel, and our own procedures needed correction.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Thanks. A lot of it seems to be individuals. Again, to come back to where my colleague was opening and the difference between where.... Usually we see it the other way around. Things are lousy, and then they get better. This time they were better and they got lousy.
I want to ask a question, and this is for your financial person, the CEO, or the chair. You mentioned, in terms of the deficits in three of the four last years, that a lot of the business is cyclical. The first thing that speaks to, then, is a strategic financial plan that would allow you to go forward.
How is it that you don't have one and that nobody at the top of the house thought they needed one?
Capt Sean Griffiths
We do have financial planning, but we're at the mercy of world-changing markets that we can't predict, and fuel prices we can't predict, and we do the best we can. As Peter MacArthur said, our number of assignments are pretty well spot-on every single year. Year after year, our predictions are perfect, but we can't control who buys oil from where, who decides on which container terminal is set up and which one is torn down. We have no control over that.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
I hear you, but I can only go by the information I'm given from the Auditor General.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
That's where we get our information, and again just today, I repeat, the Auditor General's office said, “For example, the Corporation's strategic direction did not include a long-term financial plan to ensure its financial self-sufficiency.”
Are you telling me that's incorrect?
Capt Sean Griffiths
That speaks to the unforeseens in traffic that I just mentioned. We need to plan for that.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Yes, but so do other entities. You're not the only one who has variables.
Capt Sean Griffiths
They do, but we're under severe criticism from customers and users that our tariffs are subject to increases, and we try to do the best we can to ensure the increase is enough to cover the business model.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
I have to tell you what it looks like is that you didn't do the financial planning. You got yourself into a jam, so you just raised tariffs rather than doing a proper financial plan that would set out strategic goals.
Capt Sean Griffiths
It was actually the other way around. The fact that we didn't raise tariffs is why we're criticized. It's cyclical, and it's a temporary blip where traffic is not there, and it will rebound, which it has this year. We're criticized for not having enough tariffs and not being financially self-sufficient, and that's why. We let it rebound, let the cycle take effect, and we make it up in the following years, which is exactly what's happening this year.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
I'm just going by what's in front of me. The next sentence actually says, “The Corporation reacted to its operating losses in three of the past four years by implementing a surcharge on tariffs.”
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
It looks to me like you saw a deficit, so you just increased your rates.
Capt Sean Griffiths
That was a cash recovery for cash flow, and it was only in effect for a short term.
NDP
David Christopherson NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
I want to pick up on that. Chair, you mentioned that stakeholders were pushing back. Talk to me a bit about that. How does that process work?
Chair, Atlantic Pilotage Authority
What happens now is that management brings to the audit committee what the recommended tariffs should be, and we look at the information they provide. Then we ask, “Okay, why don't you take this out to the stakeholders?” They have stakeholder meetings twice a year. They go out in May, and they go out in August.
Chair, Atlantic Pilotage Authority
It could be ships' agents. They're the ones who are going to ultimately pay the pilot fees on behalf of the ship owners. Stakeholders also include the Shipping Federation of Canada and the Chamber of Maritime Commerce.