Transport Committee on March 11th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Perfect, thank you very much.

The meeting is suspended to the call of the chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I call this meeting back to order. Thanks for your patience, colleagues. The first thing that we'll do is ensure that we're not taking up the time of our witnesses.

On behalf of all members of the committee, I want to thank you for your time today. Thank you for contributing to this very important study.

If it's okay with the members, I'll ask the witnesses to excuse themselves. Seeing no objection, I'll thank them for being here. We'll deal with some business here before we turn it over to our next panel.

Thank you very much.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Thank you very much, witnesses. I'm sorry the last bit of the meeting got derailed.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much.

You have the floor, Mr. Lauzon.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We agree with the intent of the motion because the federal procurement policy is very important to us too. However, it would seem that saying “procure” means there is an obligation to procure.

I would therefore like to move an amendment. After “VIA Rail”, instead of writing “procure its rolling stock from manufacturers established in Canada for […]”, we can simply write “applies the federal Buy Canadian Policy in the context of […]”.

The last part of the motion remains the same, that is “in order to support the maintenance and development of domestic jobs and industrial capacity”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Lauzon.

You have the floor, Mr. Barsalou‑Duval.

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

I think we should also mention the context of fleet renewal, because Mr. Lauzon’s current proposal doesn’t include that.

I understand that he is proposing the following wording: “That the committee request that the Department of Transport ensure that VIA Rail applies the federal Buy Canadian Policy in the context of the renewal of its long-distance fleet, in order to support the maintenance and development of domestic jobs and industrial capacity”.

I added the clarification on the context.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Mr. Chair, we can use Mr. Barsalou‑Duval’s wording for our record because he can’t amend his own motion. I will therefore quote his wording. I hope the clerk has noted down Mr. Barsalou‑Duval’s addition, because I agree with that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Lauzon.

I will make sure the clerk wrote down everything clearly.

Could you repeat your statement, Mr. Barsalou‑Duval?

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

I will repeat the amendment moved by Mr. Lauzon.

That the committee request that the Department of Transport ensure that VIA Rail applies the federal Buy Canadian Policy in the context of the renewal of its long-distance fleet, in order to support the maintenance and development of domestic jobs and industrial capacity.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

I agree with that, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Mr. Lauzon.

Go ahead, Mr. Albas.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC]

The Conservative Party is supporting this minor change and wishes to congratulate Mr. Barsalou‑Duval.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Albas.

Colleagues, we have an amendment proposed by Mr. Lauzon. We'll vote on that first. It looks like we do have consent for this.

(Amendment agreed to)

(Motion as amended agreed to)

Thank you very much, colleagues. I'm going to suspend now to allow the clerk to transfer over to our second round of witnesses for today.

The meeting is suspended to the call of the chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I call this meeting back to order.

Colleagues, before we begin the questioning of our second round of witnesses for today, I believe we have some housekeeping we need to take care of.

The first item would be the adoption of the budget for the port study, which has been distributed to members.

All those in favour of adopting the budget?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Next, I believe we have a motion that was proposed by Mr. Lawrence.

I'll turn the floor over to you, sir.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

I believe we have an agreement on the motion with an amendment coming from the Liberals. I'll read the motion really quickly, and then they can read their amendment. We'll vote and we'll get this done. I move:

That the Minister of Transport, along with officials from the Department, be invited to appear on the Supplementary Estimates (C), 2025-26, for two hours; and that this meeting take place at least five calendar days before the Supplementary Estimates are to be reported to the House.

It's over to you, Mike.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Sydney—Glace Bay, NS]

Thanks very much.

Our friendly amendment would be that after “that this meeting take place”, we would add “within a reasonable time frame”, and we would strike “at least five calendar days before the Supplementary Estimates are to be reported to the House”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Kelloway.

Go ahead, Mr. Albas.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC]

I just wanted to indicate that we really want to see the minister. We really do hope that he takes the opportunity to be accountable.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

That is so noted. Thank you very much, Mr. Albas.

Are there any other questions or comments?

(Amendment agreed to)

(Motion as amended agreed to)

Thank you very much, colleagues.

Colleagues, I now have the pleasure of introducing our next round of witnesses, beginning with our representative from the Cruise Lines International Association, Mr. Barry Penner, adviser. We have, from the Saint John Port Authority, Mr. Craig Bell Estabrooks, chief executive officer, joining us by video conference. We also have, from Corner Brook Port Corporation, Ms. Kelly Smith, chief executive officer.

Welcome. We'll begin with opening remarks.

I'll turn it over to you, Ms. Smith. You have five minutes.

[Kelly Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Corner Brook Port Corporation]

Thank you for the opportunity to appear here today.

I would like to begin by acknowledging that the port of Corner Brook operates on the traditional territory of the Beothuk, and that the island of Newfoundland is the ancestral homeland of the Mi'kmaq.

The port of Corner Brook is a not-for-profit community-based port serving western Newfoundland and Labrador. We are not a Canada port authority. When the federal government divested our port in 2004, we became fully responsible for operating and maintaining federally built infrastructure without the borrowing capacity or revenue streams available to CPAs.

Across Canada, independent ports like ours play a critical role in regional and national supply chain resilience. In Atlantic Canada alone, we handle roughly 40% of all domestic and international marine trade. Our ports move the people and goods that fuel the Canadian economy—critical minerals, forest products, seafood and energy—while sustaining rural and coastal communities.

In western Newfoundland, emerging opportunities in critical minerals, including inputs for clean energy technologies, highlight the importance of reliable marine infrastructure to move equipment, supplies and future critical mineral products to market.

The port of Corner Brook already contributes to Canada's trade network through our international container service and global exports, in partnership with Kruger-owned Corner Brook Pulp and Paper. With upgraded infrastructure, we can further diversify and continue to strengthen Canada's global competitiveness.

Independent ports also play a critical role in national security and Arctic operations. We provide staging points for the Canadian Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Navy, supporting vessel patrols, resupply missions and emergency response. Our ports underpin regional resilience, ensuring essential goods reach communities during extreme weather or supply disruptions and supporting food security.

Like many ports across the country, however, we are managing aging core infrastructure well beyond its intended useful life. To illustrate the scale of this challenge for independent ports, we recently issued an RFP for repairs to just 65 piles. The final cost for those repairs was $5.2 million. Our port has approximately 1,500 piles, the majority of which will require repair or replacement within the next decade.

For a not-for-profit port without CPA-level borrowing authority or the revenue levers, the costs are not recoverable, yet the infrastructure is essential to the industries and communities we serve. Deterioration is accelerating, and without timely intervention, the costs will only continue to increase.

To address this, we have undertaken assessments for a potential expansion and modernization initiative, a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure safe and reliable marine infrastructure for western Newfoundland and, by extension, Canada's supply chains. The project includes rehabilitating aging assets, adding a new berth and lay-down capacity, and improving climate resilience. This will increase our ability to support additional container traffic, renewable energy projects and critical mineral supply chains. Initial estimates exceed well beyond $100 million, however, for an investment that would deliver benefits far beyond our region.

Many existing federal programs, whether due to cost-share expectations or repayable loan structures, implicitly assume CPA-level resources. This unintentionally limits the ability of independent ports to access the very programs intended to support national supply chains. We believe a federal partnership tailored to the realities of independent ports is essential to address long-standing infrastructure deficits, ensure regional supply chain reliability and food security, support rural and coastal economic development, and strengthen Canada's national transportation network.

The port of Corner Brook is ready to modernize, ready to grow and ready to support Canada's evolving trade and security needs, but to unlock that potential, independent ports require federal partnerships that reflect the realities of divested infrastructure. With the right partnerships, ports like ours can strengthen supply chains, support emerging industries and provide the capacity Canada will need in the decades ahead.

We respectfully ask that the Government of Canada develop dedicated funding and policy tools that recognize the unique capacities and limitations of divested community-based ports.

Thank you again for the opportunity to appear. I will be pleased to take your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Ms. Smith, for your opening remarks.

Next, we'll have Mr. Penner.

Mr. Penner, the floor is yours. You have five minutes, sir.