Transport Committee on Feb. 14th, 2018

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Were the vast majority of those recreational boats?

[Chris Wellstood]

Yes. In our case, the vast majority are under 300 gross tonne. The challenge we have—

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Yes, go ahead.

[Chris Wellstood]

I was going to say that the challenge we see is that if you compare these smaller, under 300 gross tonne, derelict vessels to the automobile requirements for insurance and registration, you don't see a lot of abandoned automobiles along the road because that is tightened up, but the vessels—

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I agree.

How much did it cost you to remove these 140 or so vessels, and who paid for that?

[Chris Wellstood]

We paid that cost out of our own pocket. We don't receive any tax dollars to do so. We generate revenues. We use the revenues to do this kind of work. With this specific initiative, we paid over $2 million.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Over $2 million.

[Chris Wellstood]

Besides that, individual vessels have cost up to $150,000 apiece to clean. It all depends on the size, and these are all under 300 gross tonnage.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I have a quick final statement.

It's roughly $150,000 a vessel to clean up. It seems to me that the legislation doesn't account for the need to clean up a lot of these vessels, and I don't think the abandoned boats program has sufficient funds to tackle what seems to be literally thousands of these vessels across the country. I think that's something that committees should be mindful of as we review the legislation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you to all of our witnesses. We appreciate your information, and we wish you a happy Valentine's Day.

I'm going to suspend for a moment so that we can switch panels and reconvene.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm calling the meeting back to order of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. We continue our study on Bill C-64.

Our witnesses for this panel are from the Assembly of First Nations, Terry Teegee, chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, by teleconference; from the Chamber of Shipping, we have Bonnie Gee, vice-president, by video conference from Vancouver, British Columbia; and from the Ladysmith Maritime Society, we have Rod Smith, the executive director. Welcome to all of you.

We will turn it over to Chief Teegee for five minutes, if you would like to start.

We're still waiting, so how about we go to Bonnie Gee, since you're ready, for five minutes, please.

[Bonnie Gee, Vice-President, Chamber of Shipping]

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to provide the Chamber of Shipping's perspective on Bill C-64, an act that will take measured steps to address concerns with wrecks, abandoned and hazardous vessels.

The Chamber of Shipping represents the interests of international cargo and passenger vessels calling in the ports in Canada and, to a lesser extent the domestic ferry tug and barge operators. The west coast serves as Canada's busiest gateway for Canadian trade and tourism, and the members of the Chamber of Shipping support efforts towards a healthy and vibrant marine ecosystem.

Overall, we are supportive of Bill C-64 and would like to acknowledge Transport Canada for its approach and work on this important matter. While the bill as proposed will not resolve all the associated challenges in the short term, it does establish a strong legislative framework to build upon. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of many members of Parliament, including Ms. Sheila Malcolmson and Ms. Bernadette Jordan, in advancing the concerns of local communities.

We agree with the many witnesses who have already appeared before this committee that Bill C-64 is a positive step forward in demanding greater accountability from vessel owners, establishing the appropriate authorities and processes to deal with hazardous vessels, and outlining consequences for non-compliance. Given the expanse of Canada's coastline, the challenge will be ensuring that the legislation is fair, effective, and enforceable.

Bill C-64 falls in line with the various commitments made by the Government of Canada under the oceans protection plan to keep Canadian waters and coasts safe and clean for today's use while protecting them for future generations.

Bill C-64 seeks to implement the international convention that provides for uniform international rules and procedures to ensure the prompt and effective removal of wrecks and fair compensation for the costs. The Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, adopted in 2017 by the International Maritime Organization, entered into force on April 14, 2015, one year after ten nations signed the convention without reservation. We welcome Canada's accession to the Nairobi Convention, as it provides communities with added protection against vessels of concern and the potential costs associated with wreck removal in a manner that adheres to international regimes.

Global operators seek certainty in the regulatory environment and general consistency of applications supports a higher level of awareness and compliance. Canada continues to be a strong contributor to the development of good policy at the International Maritime Organization. We applaud Transport Canada's commitment to the important work of this United Nations agency.

International shipping requires a regulatory framework that is consistent, effective and implemented globally. As a founding member, Canada celebrates its 70th year of membership in the IMO this year. To date, 41 countries have ratified the convention, representing 75% of the world's tonnage. These countries include significant flag states and coastal nations such as China, Singapore, Panama, Liberia and Germany. Almost all vessels over 300 tonnes engaged in international trade will already have the appropriate insurance in place as required under article 10 of the Nairobi Convention.

A wreck as defined in the convention includes any object that is lost at sea from a ship. Under Bill C-64 the definition is expanded to include the following:

equipment, stores, cargo or any other thing that is or was on board a vessel and that is sunk, partially sunk, adrift, stranded or grounded, including on the shore.

Earlier this week, Gord Johns, the member of Parliament for Courtenay—Alberni, again raised concerns and expressed his frustration with government inaction following an incident involving 35 containers that were lost at sea just eight nautical miles off the west coast in November 2016. Several containers ended up on the shorelines along the coast. Unfortunately, in this case the carrier responsible was in receivership, leaving communities to deal with the mess, because the provisions offered in Bill C-64 with respect to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans' authority to direct, dismantle, or dispose of a vessel or wreck were non-existent. This will be addressed once Bill C-64 passes through Parliament and receives royal assent.

Ratification of this convention through Bill C-64 will also provide communities and many indigenous peoples with the mechanism to realize a broader assessment on the impact of ship-related debris in a timely manner and an opportunity to fully recover any costs associated to the assessment of hazardous debris removal operation.

All of the above are important and positive attributes of Bill C-64 , which, as mentioned at the outset of my comments, the Chamber of Shipping supports.

Thank you very much for your time and attention and for inviting the Chamber of Shipping to appear today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Ms. Gee.

We'll go onto Mr. Smith, executive director of the Ladysmith Maritime Society.

[Rod Smith, Executive Director, Ladysmith Maritime Society]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before you to comment on Bill C-64 and the issue of abandoned vessels. Let me start by complimenting Minister Garneau and his team at Transport Canada for drafting Bill C-64. I also think I should recognize MPs Bernadette Jordan and Sheila Malcolmson for their tireless work on this issue of abandoned vessels.

Ladysmith on Vancouver Island is a community of about 8,600 people. Tourism is one of our key economic drivers in the community. In 2010, visionary leaders in the community set the Ladysmith Maritime Society on a path to attract large-scale international marine tourism. In 2012, with $1.5 million of federal support, half a million dollars from Island Coastal Economic Trust, and strong support from the local Stz'uminus First Nations, we opened our welcome centre and began work on a visitor dock extension.

Prior to these enhancements, about 2,000 marine visitors a year tied up at our marina. This past year, we welcomed 6,300 marine visitors, 60% of whom were from the United States. These visitors inject over $1.5 million per year into the local economy and become our best ambassadors. Recently, the Ladysmith Community Marina was recognized as one of the top 10 marinas out of 400 or so in the Canadian and U.S. Pacific northwest and had been branded by our visitors as the friendliest marina on the west coast, a testament to the efforts of our 200-plus volunteers.

Sadly, all of this is at risk. A simple Google search of Ladysmith harbour results in a disturbing number of headlines about derelict and wrecked vessels, derelict Viki Lyne II, “Boat goes up in flames in Ladysmith harbour”, and about a boat sinking in the harbour and leaking oil. We're now hearing comments from our boating visitors like, “Great marina. I love the food and the people, but we won't be back. The noise and the smells from those boats next door are just too much.”

The 50 or so abandoned, dilapidated, and wrecked vessels adjacent to our marina are a serious threat to our growing tourism industry and an environmental, health and safety, and economic risk to the people of the harbour, including Stz'uminus First Nation, who rely on a 150,000-pound annual oyster licence in the area, as well as other local shellfish producers and processors.

There are some important new tools contained in Bill C-64. Clearly designating the Coast Guard as the lead agency, as I heard Minister Garneau say on February 5, is a big step. Hopefully, this will put an end to the jurisdictional complexity that communities have had to deal with. It should not have taken from June 2012 to October 2016 to remove a vessel that had already been identified in a marine survey commissioned by the Coast Guard as being in imminent danger of sinking and spilling 33,000 litres of oil into the waters of Ladysmith harbour, as was the case of the Viki Lyne II. I have the greatest respect for the Coast Guard, and I'm sure they welcome this change as well.

I do, however, have some concerns about Bill C-64, or perhaps more correctly, what's missing from it for us to effectively address the reality of what is happening on the B.C. coast. I have two examples. First, the recently introduced abandoned boats program falls short in its application. The cost-sharing formula with local communities is unfair, and, as recognized by Minister Garneau on February 5 before this committee, the funding for the program is inadequate. There's a huge gap between the cap of the abandoned boats program at $50,000 and the reality of dealing with the most prevalent vessels of concern on the coast, ex-fishing vessels and tugs, which made up over 70% of the problem vessels dealt with, using the ship-source oil pollution fund, between 2005 and 2015.

Second, on February 5, I heard Minister Garneau answer a question about live-aboards by saying it was an issue to be dealt with at the community and provincial level. Unfortunately, his response and the inability of Bill C-64 to clearly address the issue of squatters living on dilapidated vessels creates a large grey area for those of us in coastal communities and ignores the life-cycle reality of a vessel, resulting in Bill C-64 not being as comprehensive as I think it was intended to be.

Abandoned dilapidated vessels with no apparent ownership commonly serve as free temporary accommodation for squatters, who often take little interest in sewage disposal, stewardship of hazardous fluids, or vessel upkeep. Without the opportunity to identify a vessel as dilapidated and initiate a repair or removal regime, even if there is someone temporarily living on the vessel, there can only be one outcome: the eventual sinking or burning of that vessel, and the release of pollutants into the harbour, as was recently the case with the 85-tonne Anapaya in Ladysmith harbour.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Smith, I'm sorry, but I have to interrupt you. Your time is up.

[Rod Smith]

I'm done.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

We want to give the committee time for questions.

[Rod Smith]

I wanted to say thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

We'll always find time for that.

We now have by teleconference, Chief Terry Teegee, regional chief, British Columbia Assembly of First Nations.

[Vice-Chief Terry Teegee, Regional Chief, British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, Co-chair, National Fisheries Committee, Assembly of First Nations]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to acknowledge that right now I'm in Vancouver on Coast Salish territory of the Musqueam Coast Salish people, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh.

I am the elected chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations. I have recently been appointed to the national fisheries committee that I co-chair with Regional Chief Roger Augustine. I've been in Vancouver for the last couple of days to talk about all the national fisheries issues, which include many of our coastlines. I've been asked here to speak on this issue with regard to Bill C-64, An Act respecting wrecks, abandoned, dilapidated or hazardous vessels and salvage operations.

Out here on the coast of British Columbia we've experienced many issues with abandoned and other vessels that have become derelict and are spilling deleterious materials, such as oil, diesel, or gas into the ocean along the coast of British Columbia. They are threatening the fish and other sea life that we've been dependent upon for many generations since time immemorial.

The AFN executive committee that I represent has 10 regional chiefs. Each chief is elected by their community and the many other communities they represent in each province. I think this is the first time we've been allowed to present to the standing committee. I'm quite surprised by that, considering that many first nations depend on many of the alliances from coast to coast to coast. Over the 151 years of colonization, we have had many agreements with the provincial and federal governments, whether treaties or other types of agreements, whereby we have been trying to create a relationship that respects both our laws and governance. Right now, when we're talking about these different bills that affect our way of life, we're considered an afterthought. Meanwhile, we're having different agreements that should have mutual respect and recognition of our rights and title and interest and treaty rights.

As an engagement process, I look forward and hope that those who are presenting today and in the future can create a space for our first nations who depend on the coasts of this country, and also have input into how best to deal with derelict vessels along the coasts of this country we call Canada. Especially during the Trudeau Liberal government, we're living in a time of reconciliation. We need to include the many issues that affect many of our people, whether social or resource-based. We need to be involved in those decisions, especially when it comes to governance as it relates to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and its tenets of free, prior, and informed consent.

What really concerns me here is that there have been a number of issues from coast to coast to coast that have affected the resources we depend on. One of the situations out here, for example, was the Nathan E. Stewart that went derelict and sank in the Pacific coastal waters where a lot of its diesel fuel and oil spread along the coast of the Heiltsuk people, the coastal people there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Chief Teegee, I'm sorry. We're tight for time. Could you save your remaining remarks, possibly, for a response to a question, so that we can get to the committee members who have a variety of questions for all of our guests today?

[Vice-Chief Terry Teegee]

Sure.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much. My apologies for interrupting.

[Vice-Chief Terry Teegee]

I think that while many of these initiatives sound promising, they do require sustainable funding and a commitment to ensure effective first nations' participation in the development of such bills.

Also, we look forward to future involvement in partnerships with the government to help promote a healthier marine environment through many different initiatives, including monitoring, enforcement, and compliance.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.