Mr. Speaker, we have before us Bill C-9, the Canada Marine Act which is long overdue as we turn the pages into a new century. We are not quarrelling with that. I want to commend the member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands for the tremendous amount of effort he has put into this bill.
I want to make a few comments about the modernization of the ports. Canadians from the Atlantic to the Pacific realize this is a modernization of the way in which we will operate in the new century.
I have some quarrels with one area however. I particularly do not like the number of appointments that are going to be made available. It seems that this is a possible flaw in the bill in that it could be offset by the number in the harbour authority in having other people come on to the authority.
I would like to mention to the hon. member for Churchill that when we put forth the idea of the union people being included on the port authority, the argument was that they were never themselves asked to become a part of the port authority. If we look at Motion No. 1, we will also see that the hon. member was in favour of supporting that motion, so the same thing goes for the municipal authorities. They were not named either but they can be asked to make their presence on the board.
If we look at Motion No. 1, this clause seems like it unjustifiably inflates the boards of some port authorities and therefore could possibly have an imbalance on the people who serve on a given board. For that reason I think this is a bad motion. We will be opposing this motion because it would render them unbalanced in favour of municipal governments. This bill is not designed to favour municipal governments. It is designed to favour the operation of the harbour boards in co-operation with the municipal governments where the harbour is located. As a result of that I cannot support Motion No. 1.
Regarding Motion No. 2, it seems that this is redundant since the granting of letters patent will deal with the existing port authorities. Those things will vary even within the same province. It may vary between Port Alberni and so on. It seems to me that this somehow limits the growth. I do not think Bill C-9 is designed to limit the growth of the port authorities, or curtail the economic advantages they may have. Rather, the bill I believe is designed, and it certainly has been a long time in the making, to strengthen the economic viability of each port.
Motion No. 3 in actually talking of users, the term “users” as such is not adequately defined anywhere in the bill. I just thought users were people in the business world availing themselves of the use of the port. Whether that needs further definition I do not know but I do not think it is necessary.
Regarding Motion No. 12, I really feel that the motion put forth by my hon. colleague would unduly restrain, shackle or hamper the activities of port authorities. Again I want to make sure that the port authorities would have the opportunity to take advantage of the talented people who sit on the boards, the inputs from the various people, and that the port authority grows.
For the first four amendments under Group No. 1, while I do not doubt that they were put forward with very good intentions, I do not think we can support them. I think they are hampering the general welfare and somehow dampening the purpose of Bill C-9.