Mr. Speaker, I would first off like to thank the Minister of Transport for having indicated his support for an amendment submitted by the Bloc Quebecois and I would also like to thank the government for having kept pilotage mandatory in Canada.
In this vein, I will not repeat the remarks made by my Reform colleague. I invite him to come in the next referendum campaign and brag about Canada's beauty as I do the rounds on the Île d'Orléans, and then we will see about his credibility.
Clause 4 sets out as one of the objectives of Bill C-9 to provide a high level of autonomy for local port management. This method of operation will permit more manoeuvring room in the use of property managed by these new administrations. For most ports, the manoeuvring room provided in the legislation is justifiable.
However, there are certain special situations in which integration of port functions into the community is more complex. The legislation as written could prevent certain necessary adjustments.
In the port of Quebec City, for example, there might be some concern over the use made of the manoeuvring room in a port located at the heart of a metropolitan region, whose main city, Quebec City, has been designated a world heritage site. In this case, a conflict in usage has already arisen in certain areas currently managed by the port of Quebec City.
Is it unthinkable for a special interest group, which the federal Minister of Transport will continue to appoint, and which are often friends of the government, to have more power than elected municipal officials, who, however, are accountable to the public for maintaining the area.
We contend, therefore, that the bill must be amended so that special situations, like that of the Quebec City region, are given special solutions. The increased flexibility we are seeking in our amendments is necessary for the following reasons.
First, we must discuss the limits of the areas managed by local port authorities. This is the thrust of one of our amendments.
Second, we should provide for the possibility of submitting authorized usage to municipal zoning when letters patent are drawn up. This is our Motion No. 12, and the government, through its minister, has indicated that it will support our amendment.
Third, there should be greater flexibility in the make up of the board of directors. We will come back to that.
Let us talk first off about the geographic limits of port administrations. I said it was important the geographic limits of a port administration be approved by the community the port operates in. In this regard, the legislation must provide that the municipal zoning bylaws are to be respected by the port authorities. This is the intent of our Motion No. 12, which the government will support.
Next, I would like to discuss our Motion No. 2. It states, and I quote:
“(3.1) For the purposes of subsection (3) the Minister may fix the limits of a port that is to be managed by a port authority.”
The rationale behind this motion focuses on the possibility of excluding from the limits of a port a part of the area which is used for other than marine trade and transport. Let me explain.
There is one part of the port of Quebec which is called the baie de Beauport. There is a boating association called l'Association nautique de la baie de Beauport, which is recreational and touristic in nature. The bay is a regional recreation and tourism facility used by people from all over the Greater Quebec region. This zone ought, therefore, not to be included in the limits of the port, since its use is not solely for shipping. It is used for recreation and tourism.
The government still has until 5.30 p.m. tomorrow to think about it before the vote, but we respectfully submit that the government will need to give some thought to approving not only our Motion No. 12 but also our Motion No. 2.
Continuing now along the same lines, I would like to look at the composition of the port authority. There is a problem in the current wording of this bill because it is set out that a single municipality will represent the others on the local port authority. What is to be done, then, when several municipalities are affected by port operations? We know this often leads to more complex problems for community integration.
We submit that community representation ought to be stronger in order to offset the purely commercial aspects of port activities. A conflict of interest might, moreover, arise between the various municipalities where certain aspects of port activities are concerned. In that case, given that a number of municipal interests may be affected, we submit in our Motion No. 1 that each municipality adjacent to the port should be able to have its point of view heard, so that each of the municipal administrations involved has a say.
The purpose of Motion No. 1 is therefore to make provision for a representative from each of the municipalities concerned and not just from one municipality speaking on behalf of the others.
In conclusion, I would like to take a few minutes to explain Motion No. 3. First I will read clause 14(1)(d):
The Governor in Council appoints the remaining individuals nominated by the Minister in consultation with users selected by the Minister or the classes of users mentioned in the letters patent.
We humbly submit that the bill should be amended to reflect our Motion No. 3 so that it is the users themselves who choose the people who will represent them on the local port authority's board of directors, and so that it is not left to the minister, as it is now, to make partisan appointments. In the case of airports, users were asked to say whom they would like to see on their local airport authority's board of directors. Why was the same scenario not used for the privatization of ports?
To a certain extent, this is what we are criticizing, what we often see in Canada. On the one hand, the government is privatizing. On the other hand, the government is pulling out, sometimes leaving facilities in poor shape, but not providing an adequate budget to make the required technical improvements. The government is privatizing but still retaining authority for appointing directors.
Unfortunately I am running short of time, but I could name many friends of the government in office who are appointed all the time. This has been just as true under the present Liberal government as it was in the time of the Conservatives. That is why we said in the last two election campaigns that Conservatives and Liberals were one and the same.
Once again, I ask the parliamentary secretary, who is a responsible member and who handled this issue well on the transport committee, to examine our amendments. As can be seen, our shopping list is not terribly long. We wanted to focus on the key points.
In closing, I would ask the House to give positive consideration to this first group of amendments moved by the members of the Bloc Quebecois, which I proudly represent.