Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the officials for being here.
I'd like to pick up on an issue that I raised several months ago when you were last here, Mr. Keenan, and this relates to the use of tugboats under 15 tonnes on the B.C. coast.
Obviously, following the 2021 sinking of the Ingenika near Kitimat, which took the lives of two men, a lot of attention has turned to the lack of regulations in this industry, particularly for these smaller vessels.
I do know there is a regulatory review process under way; however, I'm still unclear on why certain rules haven't been put in place. Starting with the issue of commercial vessel certification, I just read on Transport Canada's website that all small marine commercial vessels between 15 and 150 gross tonnage must be certified by Transport Canada. Any smaller vessel that carries more than 12 passengers must also be inspected and certified; yet we have these commercial vessels under 15 tonnes that are operating in all kinds of weather towing giant loads and they don't have to be certified as commercial vessels.
Isn't there a simple change that Transport Canada could require of companies that operate these small tugboats to have them inspected and certified?