Thank you, sir.
I'd like to thank the committee for this opportunity to discuss safety management systems in the marine sector and other measures to ensure marine safety.
Safety management systems, or SMS, are a useful means to manage risk that complements the statutory inspection and certification regime in Canada. The value of SMS lies in formally identifying rules, responsibilities, and procedures that ship operators must follow and associating these with specific targets.
In order to maximize the benefits, Transport Canada marine safety and security has for some time been consulting with marine stakeholders about proposed amendments to the existing safety management regulations. These regulations set out the current requirements for SMS in Canada’s marine sector.
The amendments focus on three key goals. First, we aim to reduce the number of shipping fatalities and injuries involving Canadian vessels. Second, we want to create the flexibility to adapt to evolving technologies in the marine industry. Third, we want to ensure that Canada’s regulatory regime is more closely aligned with international requirements.
In Canada, the requirement to have an SMS in place has applied since 1998 to vessels that engage in international voyages. However, these vessels make up only a fraction of the Canadian fleet. If we are to see the benefits of SMS, we need to apply them much more broadly, and that’s exactly what our proposed amendments to the existing safety management regulations aim to do. By making a greater number of vessels subject to the regulations, we will reach a much larger portion of our domestic fleet, ensuring that more vessels put these potentially life-saving measures into practice. For this reason, we intend to apply the regulations to all vessels 24 metres or more in length. This will allow us to standardize the implementation of SMS for vessels and their associated companies in Canada.
If adopted, the amendments will formalize safety procedures, require proper documentation of planned maintenance, assign responsibilities, and identify potential risks. This move would make the marine industry proactive in managing safety and fully integrating safety considerations into operations. It would also help bring about a culture of continuous improvement with respect to safety. The changes Transport Canada is proposing in no way compromise existing regulatory requirements relative to marine safety, such as those for inspection and certification of vessels. Instead, SMS are a separate requirement that complement and reinforce the safety requirements made under other regulations.
I would like to add that in developing these proposed amendments we have been mindful of the Transportation Safety Board’s recommendations. We have been careful to take the board’s concerns into account, and I believe we have found a workable solution that will meet our safety objectives by placing achievable, affordable requirements on industry. Adopting these proposed amendments to the safety management regulations would represent a significant step towards enhancing the safety of marine shipping in Canadian waters.
Over the past several years we have taken a series of measures with that goal in mind. Transport Canada administers a comprehensive marine legislative and regulatory system, the cornerstone of which is the Canada Shipping Act, 2001, to ensure that marine transportation is safe and efficient and that it protects the environment.
You will also be pleased to know that in pursuit of these objectives Transport Canada is moving forward with measures to ensure tanker safety. For example, these measures require oil tankers to be double-hulled and also set out how they are built, equipped, inspected, certified, and operated.
In addition, with the introduction of the world-class tanker safety system initiative, first announced in March 2013, the Government of Canada has further strengthened Canada’s marine oil spill prevention, preparedness, and response regime. Through measures such as expanding the national aerial surveillance program, introducing new aids to navigation, and increasing tanker inspections, we continue to support the safe transportation of the roughly 320 million tonnes of oil shipped off Canada’s coasts every year.
Additional measures announced last May include area response planning, which will establish new response plans in specific areas that have been identified as having higher vessel traffic.
Modernizing Canada's navigation system by moving towards an electronic system and investing in state-of-the-art technology is another priority area that has been identified. In the rare event that an oil spill should occur under world-class initiatives, the Government of Canada has established an incident command system to better coordinate response to marine spill incidents. We will also seek to amend legislation to permit the use of alternative spill response measures where this would have a net benefit on the environment.
Moving forward, we will continue to focus on the safety of marine transportation in this country for the protection of people and the environment.
Sir, I will now pass the mike to my colleague Nicole Girard.