Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-44, the short title of which is Canada Marine Act. This bill is crucially important for the future of shipping and the survival of ports and harbours in Canada and Quebec.
First, allow me to point out that in all matters concerning transportation in general, the way the government works is to harm regions, legislate in a piecemeal manner, without measuring the impact its legislations will have once in force.
During last spring's debate on Bill C-20, many members wondered about the impact of the privatization of air navigation services on remote regions. We were not against the principle of privatizing these services, but we thought that it should not be done in the sole perspective of deficit reduction and by dumping the problems and costs in the local stakeholders' backyard.
In the same vein, Coast Guard fees for services, such as ice breaking and dredging, are likely to hinder the competitiveness of Quebec's ports. Again, the federal government's main thrust is the fight against the deficit and this, at all cost, at the expense of the true interests of Canadians and Quebecers. That jobs could be jeopardized does not seem to carry much weight in this government's political choices.
The same can be said today about Bill C-44. First, in spite of its title, the bill does not propose any kind of shipbuilding or merchant marine development strategy. Instead of development, it seems that, once again, under the pretence of streamlining operations and improving services, the government has only one thing in mind: to dump its deficit onto the provinces, municipalities and local stakeholders.
The bill's main objective is to commercialize port services by getting rid of the present Canada Ports Corporation and replacing it by Canadian port authorities.
The Bloc Quebecois is not opposed to a policy to divest itself of ports and harbours by commercializing them. In fact, local stakeholders would probably be able to manage those facilities much more efficiently than the federal government did until now. Indeed if we look at the last 20 years of federal management of ports and harbours, we can only come to the conclusion that there have been an excessive bureaucratization which resulted in unreasonable costs and inefficient management of facilities.
The St. Lawrence Seaway, for example, received $7 billion in investments over the years but generates only $70 million in revenues annually for a traffic of only half that of 1970. There are 324 commercial ports and harbours in Canada.
Right now, 90 percent of the commercial maritime traffic transits through 45 of these ports. Obviously the federal government must withdraw from the management of that sector, but not any which way.
In the bill before us today, we see that the Canada Ports Corporation will be replaced by Canadian ports authorities or CPAs. These CPAs will manage the port facilities, but the federal government will keep ownership of the lands and facilities. That is to say that the government will withdraw from the fiscal aspect while keeping its control since it will have a representative on all CPA boards.
We can understand that this government is trying once more to avoid its financial responsibilities while keeping all its powers. When this government talks about decentralisation, we must understand that in reality it wants to decentralise its debt. When it talks about involving local stakeholders, we must understand that their main role will be to pay the bills while being forced to abide by federal standards.
Criteria are also being established for ports do be designated CPAs. Applications made by ports will thus be evaluated under the following criteria provided in clause 6: first, the port is, and is likely to remain, financially self-sufficient; second, the port is of strategic significance to Canada's trade; third, it is linked to major rail lines or a major highway infrastructure; and fourth, it has diversified traffic.
Only ports respecting those criteria will be designated as CPAs. As I said earlier, the federal government is withdrawing from the financial area but it wants to hang on to control of CPA administration.
Of greatest concern is the fate of ports which cannot become CPAs. The government is taking its time: it allows itself six years to dispose of those ports. This delay will therefore create some insecurity in Canada as well as in Quebec. Actually, the federal government has neglected the maintenance of the ports and most of them are in poor condition. They will need substantial repairs. Therefore, several ports probably will be left out of the running and will not have the status of port authorities, unless municipalities and provinces invest significant funds for their rehabilitation.
Again, under the cover of decentralization, the federal government is passing the bill on to other levels of government. It would be more honest on the part of the federal government to rehabilitate those port facilities before their transfer given the fact that their deterioration is the result of lack of maintenance by the government.
Although the Bloc Quebecois is not against the principle of privatizing port facilities, we will vote against this bill just because the government is not proceeding in the right way. This bill needs major amendments in order to meet the different needs of port localities and regions.
To this government, decentralization of powers seems to mean only decentralization of the debt, a debt which results from a poor management on its part. The impact of this bill in its present form, combined with the new fee structure for Coast Guard services, will come down hard on a number of municipalities, in both Canada and Quebec, which rely on commercial shipping. The government does not seem to be taking this into consideration.
We will therefore try to see that the Liberal government assesses the real consequences of its policies-policies which may be costly to the people of Canada and of Quebec.