What I am against, Mr. Minister, is this “Ottawa knows best”, top-down approach when it comes to our supply chains. We've heard that time and time again, especially when it comes to you, as the minister, sitting in an office in Ottawa and telling the ports across the country—no matter how big they are, no matter how unique their situation is—that you know best, that you know who should be the chair, that that should come from on high in Ottawa.
I was shocked to hear you say that, right now, port boards are doing whatever they want. That is simply not the case. What they are doing is trying to efficiently move goods throughout the supply chain, and this bill will actually make that more difficult by inserting you and your political ideology into the boards of directors.
Why are you not allowing ports, which are supposed to be at arm's length from government, to operate at arm's length from government? Why is there this “Ottawa knows best” approach to port governance?