Mr. Speaker, who was it that coined the phrase, it is like déja vu all over again. In the last Parliament it was called Bill C-44 and today we know it as Bill C-9. It is with a great deal of privilege that I speak to the report stage amendments of the Canada Marine Act.
This bill fills the 1995 national marine policy to commercialize and strengthen Canada's marine sector.
What I would like to do is provide my colleagues opposite and on this side of the House with an overview of the subjects covered in the bill. The proposed act makes it easier for ports to operate according to business principles. It enables the Minister of Transport to commercialize the operations of the seaway. It improves the way pilotage authorities operate.
I want to take a moment and thank the members opposite, in particular the member for Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, for his praise and congratulations on the work we have done in regard to pilotage authorities. However, not all the work has been completed there as is evident in the bill.
Part I of the bill establishes a new form of port corporation and it is going to be called a Canada port authority. The basic principles for the port authority operations are that they will not have to have recourse to the federal treasury other than for emergency relief. They will be incorporated or continued by letters patent. They will be non-share capital corporations, must recover costs from fees charged and must comply with corporate governing provisions that we have brought into the bill, some of which come from the Canada Business Corporations Act.
In line with these principles, the powers of the port authority include commercial freedom to price its services, the powers of a natural person for the purpose of operating a port, authority to borrow on open markets but, with regard to federal real property, the port authority may only secure loans by pledging revenue streams and movable fixtures and not federal land.
Within this group of motions the government seeks to clarify and simplify some of the procedures for transactions that involve crown lands. We are also clearing up any defective section reference relating to the Canada Shipping Act.
Generally, port authorities will also be agents of the crown allowing them to pay grants in lieu of taxes. In some cases, municipalities never received this before. Agent status reinforces the port community from provincial taxation and regulation. This is necessary to allow our major ports to remain competitive in a global environment. Ports will not be able to borrow as agents and will have to convince commercial lenders of the merits of their proposed investments. The crown will not back up port loans.
Bill C-9 strikes a balance also by limiting the crown's exposure to actions taken where the port is an agent. This gives the ports the autonomy they need to operate on a commercial basis without unduly exposing the crown to future liabilities.
Part II of the act requires the repeal of the Public Harbours and Ports Facilities Act. It then provides the minister with various options for the administration of ports remaining in the federal system. This ties into the 1995 national marine policy decision regarding the transfer of port facilities that do not play a national role.
It set up a new streamlined regulatory regime for any remaining public ports similar to that for the new port authorities.
Part II also requires that the minister report to Parliament each year on the divestitures that took place during that year.
Part III of the act sets out a new framework for management of the Canadian portions of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The minister may use agreements to assign the management of part or all of the seaway to a not for profit corporation or to any other person. An agreement may include management of the operation of the seaway, transfer of assets, et cetera.
The existing seaway authority may be dissolved by governor in council at an appropriate date to allow such agreements to proceed. The government will retain ownership of the seaway property and regulatory control over navigation in the seaway.
Part VII of the bill provides a more commercial environment for the operation of our pilotage authorities. It allows pilotage tariffs to take effect after expiry of a 30-day notice. If there are objections, any reviews of tariff increases by the Canadian Transportation Agency generally must be done within 120 days or less. The borrowing limits for pilotage authorities are to be set by the governor in council.
The bill states that no appropriations can be made from the government to pilotage authorities except in respect of emergencies. The chairman of the pilotage authority will be part time or full time and appointed by governor in council in consultation with the users and the authority.
The bill also requires that there will be a ministerial review of various functions of the pilotage authorities in consultation with both the authorities and the users. The review will be completed in a one year period after the provision for the review comes into force.
The remainder of the bill provides a review of the whole act in the fifth year and it receives royal assent.
No matter how finely tuned we have managed to construct this bill over the last close to three years, it is clear that it is not the end of the day and a review is there built in to ensure that if there are any further refinements, they will be made. It provides for a regime for enforcement of regulations established pursuant to the bill.
It has been almost three years in the works with, as I say again, much consensus building on the part of all of the stakeholders involved.
I urge all hon. members in this House to support Bill C-9.