Thank you, Wendy.
Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members for allowing us this opportunity to speak to our strong safety record, and to our commitment to working with our key partners to continue to strengthen this record.
Let me begin by stating that Canada's port authorities are keenly aware of their responsibility to protect community safety and the safety of all port employees and users, including our private sector tenants. We are also aware of the need to ensure that our operations are environmentally responsible.
Of course, there is a good reason for that. A number of commodities handled by Canadian ports are classified as dangerous goods according to the international maritime dangerous goods code, IMDG.
As Canada continues to negotiate free trade agreements with countries around the world, it is expected that commodity throughputs in our ports will continue to grow, including dangerous goods. Given this potential growth, it is in our best interest to ensure that this committee and other decision-makers are aware of current safety and security regimes and practices in our ports.
Within our sector, Transport Canada introduced safety management regulations under the Canada Shipping Act in 1998. These regulations were enacted to meet our international obligations to comply with the International Maritime Organization's international management code for the safe operation of ships and for pollution prevention, the ISM code. That is the code that was used.
Canada's Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act regulates the movement of dangerous goods by rail and road, while the international maritime dangerous goods code, the IMDG code, regulates sea transport. The IMDG code is implemented through the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 and its related regulations, as well as the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act.
In addition, other IMO requirements play a role in the safety regime in Canadian ports. These requirements include IMO's International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, SOLAS, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, MARPOL, and the International Convention and Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, STCW. The STCW convention's chapter V addresses the special training requirements for a crew on board oil, chemical, and liquefied natural gas tankers.
Canada's ports also support Transport Canada's role in port state control where Transport Canada inspectors board foreign vessels to ensure they comply with the major international conventions adopted by Canada. Vessels that do not meet robust Canadian safety standards are detained until their deficiencies are corrected.
Many Canadian ports are also defined as mandatory pilotage zones, where all vessels over a certain size threshold are required to have a marine pilot with local knowledge on board to guide the vessel into and out of their harbours. All oil tankers must have a marine pilot on board.
In the case of emergencies within ports, various federal, provincial, municipal, and private agencies and organizations work cooperatively to respond to any incidents that occur. Ports regularly test the effectiveness of their emergency response plans, including conducting emergency simulation exercises.
Safety management systems augment rigorous domestic and international regulatory regimes. The Canada Marine Act requires Canadian port authorities to put in place a framework to ensure order and safety. Each member of the national ports system has its own safety management system in place.
With strong domestic, international, and port-specific safety regimes in place, it is no wonder that marine safety continues to improve, especially in the last decade.
For the marine shipping sector, Transport Canada data show that there were zero reported in-transit dangerous goods incidents between 2006 and 2011. ln terms of collision-related injuries and fatalities per tonne per kilometre, the marine mode of transport led with the lowest number of both from 2002 to 2011. Marine accident rates have also declined about 10% over the last decade. Data and analysis from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada also confirm this.
I will conclude by stating that on behalf of the 18 port authorities that make up the national ports system, we believe that the current safety regimes and safety management systems in place are appropriate to the risks presented. We do not believe that additional regulations are required.
We remain committed to maintaining our strong safety record, and indeed, to always striving to do better, and we look forward to assisting the committee as it reviews the robust systems already in place.
We also want to work with the committee and our other partners to ensure Canada remains a world-leader in the marine shipping sector.
Thank you. Merci.