Transport Committee on March 9th, 2026

[Will Greaves, Liberal, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Salmons, I'll ask the same question of you.

[Steve Salmons]

I would absolutely agree with my colleague. As part of the national trade corridors funding project, in which we're building a new port capable and ready for short-sea containers, we have been through three years of regulatory approval processes with Parks Canada, Fisheries, navigation, environmental assessment and impact assessment. It has been three years, and we don't even have a shovel in the ground. We may not get one in the ground until 2027, because we're simply running out of building time during the season. It will be four years from approval to construction. We need to collapse the time.

As my colleague said, it's not just the legitimate requirements to prove we are not harming the environment and what benefits we're contributing. It's the duplication of requirements. It continues to confound me that each department and regulatory process we go through wants unique and separate indigenous consultations. Two of them each wanted distinct and separate impacts on fish species and water flow. We had one requirement to prove that infilling an inlet of about 60 feet across and maybe 150 metres long would not affect the Great Lakes levels by emptying them out. These things are just ludicrous.

My suggestion to the committee would be that we need to give departmental officials an opportunity to use common sense and to have thresholds for which they can make calls at the field level without having to tick every box on the sheet.

[Will Greaves, Liberal, Victoria, BC]

Thank you very much for those responses.

In a slightly related vein, one thing we've heard about at this committee, both today and from previous witnesses, is the role gaps in other supporting infrastructure play in preventing efficiencies and growth in these ports.

Beginning with Mr. Salmons, and going to Mr. Métivier afterwards, could you point to either a single or a small number of off-site infrastructure bottlenecks that limit the growth of your port facility, whether for rail, road or something else? Is there anything else you want to flag for the committee in terms of other investments in addition to the port itself that would be necessary for your future growth plans?

[Steve Salmons]

I concluded my comments by talking about the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. The seaway has served this region and this country very well, but unfortunately, it is too limited seasonally.

To the credit of the St. Lawrence Seaway corporation, it is in fact looking for means to extend the season. There has to be a commitment, an objective and a goal to achieve year-round shipping.

I'm not saying for every day. They do have to close for maintenance. There are going to be days when you can't fight Mother Nature and there's too much ice. However, we in the marine industry—shippers, operators, ports—in our discussions with the leadership of the seaway corporation, believe that with the right investments, the right creativity and the right thinking, there can be measures to open up the seaway to 365-day operation.

[Will Greaves, Liberal, Victoria, BC]

That's great. Thank you very much.

What do you think, Mr. Métivier?

[Anick Métivier]

Thank you for the question.

Whenever a port becomes more efficient through improvements to its infrastructure or equipment, it inevitably has an impact on road and rail networks. When a port can accommodate more ships, it naturally follows that it can accommodate more trucks and trains, so it's important to consider the impact on road and rail networks outside the port's boundaries. It's important to take a holistic view. Improving and modernizing ports is one thing, but it's also important to ensure that they can maintain a flow of traffic outside their boundaries that doesn't hinder development. It's therefore important to ensure that infrastructure outside the port, particularly road and rail networks, can develop at the same pace as port improvements.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Mr. Greaves.

Mr. Barsalou‑Duval, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'm going to start with Ms. Reeves.

In your opening remarks earlier, you mentioned the issue of contaminated soil at the Contrecoeur site at the Port of Montreal. I myself asked the port representative on the previous panel about this, and there seemed to be a commitment of some kind to address contaminants.

I'd like to know whether those comments reassured you, and whether you have anything to say about the commitments that have been made to date.

[Hélène Reeves]

No, it's not reassuring. There are City of Contrecœur regulations that are public regulations that must be complied with. I don't see how a federal agency can say that it won't comply with city regulations. That seems like a very dangerous precedent to me. These are public regulations and documents, and citizens have access to all of them. That's very important.

I would also like to point out—since I hold a law degree from the Université de Montréal—that the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court have ruled on environmental matters and stated that we must practise co-operative federalism, which means respecting each level of government, because the ultimate goal is to protect the environment and the health of citizens. We cannot put that at risk.

Furthermore, as I said, the construction will be entrusted to DP World, a company based in the United Arab Emirates. So, if we haven't established a process to ensure compliance with the regulations and laws of all levels of government—whether municipal, the Government of Quebec, or the Government of Canada—we will completely lose control. So, how are we going to handle this?

This is also extremely important because all the sites where the work will take place are located along the St. Lawrence River. If the St. Lawrence River becomes contaminated, the consequences could be catastrophic. Furthermore, the Contrecœur drinking water plant is located five kilometres downstream. This is extremely concerning for residents.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you very much.

With that, I'm going to take this opportunity to move the following motion to the committee:

That the Port of Montreal make its remediation plan for the contaminated lands in Contrecœur available to the public and submit it to the committee, pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)(a), and that the committee invite the Port to comply with municipal regulations and Quebec environmental laws.

I don't know if we need to suspend or if people are ready to talk about this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I'm going to suspend for a few minutes to consult with the clerk.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I call this meeting back to order.

There's been an agreement to discuss the motion put forward by Mr. Xavier Barsalou-Duval at the beginning of the next meeting.

For now, we turn the floor over to Mr. Gill for five minutes of questioning.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

It's great to see you here, Mr. Salmons.

Through you, Chair, I've known this gentleman for over 10 years, and he has been a loyal servant of the entire region of Windsor and, especially, the port.

I give a shout-out as well to the harbourmaster, Peter Berry, who has been nominated as an honorary captain of the Canadian navy.

Is that correct, Mr. Salmons?

[Steve Salmons]

It is absolutely correct.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

He is a dedicated professional and public servant.

I'm not sure whether you can answer my question, Mr. Salmons, but when is the bridge going to open? This is the concern we both have, as do many people in the Windsor-Essex region and the entire country. As we both know, over 30% of the trade for the country goes through there. Half a billion to a billion dollars' worth of goods cross the bridge every day, and people are looking for the second bridge to open.

Have you been involved in any talks with Bridging North America, or have you been kept in the loop by the ministry of infrastructure—or the Minister of Infrastructure, for that matter? The bridge is in your jurisdiction. Have they kept you in the loop to say when the bridge will open, what the toll rates will be or when the rates will be published?

[Steve Salmons]

Thank you, Mr. Gill.

As members may know, Port Windsor is the host of three international crossings: the Detroit Windsor Tunnel, which also goes through the port; the Ambassador Bridge, currently; and this bridge.

Of course, there's a desperate need for a new crossing. It is slow. Our trade depends on it. When there was a protest a couple of years back, we came to understand what happens to our economies when the bridge shuts down. We understood it during COVID as well. With that problem, we're anxious to see it open.

I can give you a guess. I don't know.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

Go ahead. Give me a guess.

[Steve Salmons]

I'm hoping it will open early in the summer. It could be as late as August. It's encouraging that U.S. Customs are now on-site on the American side. They're commissioning. They're training. They weren't there at Christmas, which meant there was nobody until they went through their four- to six-month opening process, so this is encouraging.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

Is the holdup on the U.S. side, then? Is that your understanding?

[Steve Salmons]

Until they're ready, they won't be opening.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

Why is there a lack of transparency from our side, from our ministry, about these issues? This is the first we've heard that the holdup is on the U.S. side. We have had no communications, from our side of the government, to say what's holding it up.

[Steve Salmons]

The port authority, even though it is the host site, is not at the table with the bridge construction project. We were a major supplier: We supplied all the pre-stressed concrete pieces that went in, the concrete and the asphalt. A lot of material went through Port Windsor, but we were a supplier. Unfortunately, we're not the operator. We're hoping and waiting for it to open because a lot of product that comes into Port Windsor goes into the States—into the manufacturing system there, the integrated market I talked about in my opening comments. Therefore, we want the bridge open as soon as possible.

[Harb Gill, Conservative, Windsor West, ON]

What's the port's long-term strategy to ensure that Windsor becomes a major logistics hub as opposed to a waypoint or a bypass zone for people to get to other places?

[Steve Salmons]

Port Windsor is the only national port on the American border. A lot of ports will say they're 10 minutes, or 30 to 40 miles, from the international border. We are the American border crossing point. Though land crossings aren't our forte, the integration with road, rail and marine creates a unique multimodal hub that can't be duplicated anywhere in the country, just because of geography.

The truth is, we are fully serviced by rail. We are the terminus of Highway 401. We are at the doorstep of the United States' whole highway system. We have a fourth crossing: We have a rail tunnel. The CP rail tunnel goes through Port Windsor. We couldn't be more integrated, and this presents an opportunity. A question for us is, will this new Gordie Howe bridge be an opportunity of economic prosperity, or will it be an economic bypass?

I can tell you that, on the American side, they are working, through containers and through connections with highways, on reconnecting their highway system. New transloading facilities are going to take advantage of this new crossing. This is why Port Windsor is working desperately hard to get into the container world. We are also looking at building warehousing to take advantage of the free trade zone designation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Salmons.

Thank you, Mr. Gill.

For our final line of questioning for today, we have Ms. O'Rourke.

The floor is yours. You have five minutes, please.