Transport Committee on Oct. 4th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Berthold, you have a minute and a half left. Are you asking that the committee vote on that motion now?

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Yes, absolutely

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Clerk, do we need unanimous consent in order to deal with the motion now?

[The Clerk]

As it hasn't met the notice requirements.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Exactly.

Is it the will of the committee to deal with Mr. Berthold's motion now?

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Could we have a recorded vote?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Of course.

All those in favour of dealing Mr. Berthold's motion now please raise your hands.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Just for clarity, Mr. Clerk, are we voting on whether we deal with the motion now?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Yes, because it needs unanimous consent.

[The Clerk]

I count nine yeas.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Would you please read the motion out before we vote on it again?

[The Clerk]

That the Committee, after noting that the Minister of Transport has reached his own conclusions on the necessary amendments to the Navigation Protection Act, immediately cease its study of the Navigation Protection Act .

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Chair, I think I can speak to the motion right now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Yes, you may if you choose to, very shortly if you would like us to vote on it. We have five minutes left to our meeting.

Next will be Mr. Badawey.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My thanks to the members of the committee for agreeing to talk about this issue publicly. I think it's important.

Let me reiterate that we have seen that this study was not needed for the committee's work. In fact, we had the proof that, in his letter, the minister misled us when he said that the department would hold public consultations on the issue.

We have seen that the current legislation makes it possible to address the complaints filed by the municipalities, stakeholders and various indigenous communities whether or not a waterway is included on the list.

In addition, it would have been useful if the minister had read the 2012 testimony of Nathan Gorall, the director general of the Navigable Waters Protection Task Force. He appeared before the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources. Mr. Gorall was very clear. In 2012, Transport Canada—

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

May I interrupt? Just for clarification, is it your intent to talk out the clock, or are you prepared to allow for Mr. Badawey's comments and to vote on your motion? We only have two minutes left.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Okay, just let me read that quote and after—

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I have two minutes left. If it's ten forty-five the game is over.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Gorall said that Transport Canada was still grappling with a backlog of requests. The situation improved, as evidenced by Ms. Higgens' testimony.

In his testimony, Mr. Gorall reminded us:

Because of this, municipalities, provincial and territorial governments, industry and small private builders have all urged us to make substantive changes to the act.

That is why I think the legislation meets the needs, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favour of ceasing this study and that we finally move to the items we had all agreed on for our business this fall.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Mr. Berthold.

Mr. Badawey, be very short.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair, essentially, I won't be supporting the motion. The motion makes assumptions that aren't true.

Again, I want to reiterate what was mentioned earlier by both the minister's staff as well as myself with respect to the focus of the direction we're taking; that's safety. This is a process we're embarking on, which is different from the process that was embarked on before by the previous government. We are simply opening the door a bit wider so that folks can come out and participate in the process, including those who didn't the last time around, such as indigenous peoples.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

We have a motion on the floor, and I'm going to ask that all those in favour of—

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

I would like a recorded vote, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Yes, of course.

(Motion negatived: 6 nays; 3 yeas)

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

The meeting is adjourned.