Evidence of meeting #136 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was waves.
A video is available from Parliament.
Associate Professor, Carleton University, As an Individual
They definitely have.... I don't know what the answer is to that.
I'd say that overall, what we have seen in the Rideau River is that most people get along and most people are polite. Most people, if they see someone canoeing, slow down.
Associate Professor, Carleton University, As an Individual
I believe one of the witnesses who left who said that it's just the odd person.
Overall, I'd say boaters are very respectful to one another, and that's what we witnessed.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
So it's a matter of managing what constitutes the exception.
It's the exceptions we have to deal with, because all the rest seem to be a big family. That's what I feel.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you very much, Mr. Lauzon.
Mr. Gullick, I want to turn to you, sir, to make sure that there are no audiovisual issues that need to be dealt with.
Manager, Government and Special Programs, Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons
No, I just wanted to respond to that question about harmony.
I live on the Trent-Severn system and I see boats coming past here every day. I would say that regardless of size or type of boat, etc., there is a great deal of harmony and respect among boaters.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you, Mr. Gullick. I appreciate that, and I concur.
Mr. Barsalou-Duval, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.
Bloc
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Rennie, you measured the approximate speed at which a boat produces the strongest waves, by type of craft. You say that, above a certain speed, a boat skims the water, or at least glides over it. The boat then produces fewer waves.
I imagine you've also found that, depending on the type of craft, the speed at which the wave starts to decrease is variable.
Am I wrong?
Could you tell us more about that?
Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
That's true. I did say that they were all on the order of 20 kilometres per hour for the maximum wave, but certainly there is variance among the boat types. I was giving a number to get a sense of what speed might produce the maximum wave.
Bloc
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
I raise this point because I know that some mayors or organizations have already sought to regulate navigation on bodies of water, particularly to reduce the amplitude of waves produced by watercraft. But this has proved difficult, given that all boats produce maximum waves at different speeds. It should be noted that the only tool they have to regulate navigation is to limit the speed or engine power of the boats.
Should the regulatory tools be changed? Are there other ways of doing things?
At the end of the day, how can we precisely limit the effect of waves, which is often the objective, when we need to find another way of achieving this result other than through regulation?
Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
I agree with that.
One possibility is to make sure that the maximum speed for all boat types is below the threshold. For example, on the Rideau, there are no-wake zones, but there could also be less-than-10-kilometre-per-hour zones. That's one possibility, I think, to make sure that the posted speed works for all the different boat types.
Bloc
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
We tried to do this in some places, but it led to a big outcry. After all, 10 kilometres per hour is very slow. So to introduce a similar limit for all waterways, across the whole country, becomes complex.
I imagine there would be a way to find a compromise acceptable to both biodiversity advocates and pleasure boaters.
What would that compromise be?
Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
You're leading me into the policy realm, which I said I wanted to avoid. However, if I were to devise such a policy, I might look at boat size and draft. In other words, it's the displacement of the boat.
Yes, I think you could have a different speed limit for different types of boats.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you very much, Mr. Barsalou-Duval.
Finally for today, we turn the floor over to Mr. Bachrach for two and a half minutes.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks again to our witnesses for engaging with us on these topics.
We've heard from witnesses who are primarily concerned about the impact of recreational boating on the aquatic ecosystem, shorelines and that sort of thing. We've also heard from people from the recreational boating community who are concerned about several topics, including flares, which we heard about today. We've heard about the cost of boating. We've heard about infrastructure needs and those sorts of things.
My question for Mr. Thomson and Mr. Gullick is what they make of the concerns about the impact of recreational boating on shorelines and the aquatic environment, and the idea of improving the regulation of recreational boating to minimize those impacts.
The question isn't whether there's an impact occurring; obviously, on lakes and rivers, where there's high boat traffic, there will be impacts. It's really about how you govern recreational boating effectively. What order of government is best positioned to provide regulation and enforcement, and what does that look like?
Is it embraced by the recreational boating community? I imagine some recreational boaters are travelling an hour or two for recreation on a lake or a river, and their view of the situation is probably quite different from someone who lives on the bank of that river or the shore of that lake and who boats in the local vicinity and experiences the impacts in a different way.
What do you make of this whole conversation around environmental impacts from recreational boating?
General Manager, MacDonald Turkey Point Marina Inc.
There's no question that there's shoreline erosion.
On impacts of recreational boating, I think the most important things that need to be looked at are speed zones and no-wake zones. We struggle with that right here at the MacDonald Turkey Point Marina. I have four-by-eight sheets of plywood that say, “No wake, no throttle.” I have probably eight of them around the facility.
Mother Nature is another problem, though. With shoreline erosion, the biggest problem is that the shoreline has to be protected, whether it's through armour stone in environmental ways or through other ways of doing it. Mother Nature and some big storms cause more destruction at this marina than any boat going up and down the channel or in our facility. I see it all the time.
Shoreline protection is definitely a big thing, and that would obviously come from the federal and provincial governments stepping in.
Manager, Government and Special Programs, Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons
I would concur with Brad.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you very much, Mr. Gullick.
Thank you, Mr. Thomson.
On behalf of all committee members, I want to thank our witnesses for giving us their time this afternoon.
With that, this meeting is adjourned.