Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to address the concerns that have been raised with respect to the port advisory committee process in Halifax. I might indicate that the process is also applicable in all other port authority compositions.
The role of the port advisory committee was to develop a user nomination process in response to the requirement in the Canada Marine Act to consult with users on certain board appointments. This nomination process has been reflected in the letters patent. The purpose of this process was to solicit names for user representatives of Canada port authority boards and to forward nominations to the Minister of Transport for consideration.
Port advisory committee members will not be appointing directors to the Halifax Port Authority. The authority is an agent of the crown and the majority of directors are appointed by governor in council. In addition, the province and municipality each appoint a board member.
To ensure that the process was inclusive, port managers were asked to contact users and invite them to attend a nomination meeting. In addition, an advertisement was placed in the local newspaper advising of the port advisory committee nomination meeting.
With respect to the composition of the port advisory committee, a broad cross-section of port users was represented, including members of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce and the Halifax Shipping Association. The list provided by the port advisory committee was used by the minister in making his recommendations to the governor in council.
As with the provincial and municipal appointees to the Halifax Port Authority, each user representative will serve the board with a view to the needs of the Halifax Port Authority as a whole.