Stan Dromisky

[Nav Canada, April 29th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, Nav Canada is aware of the potential for sightline obstructions at the Kelowna airport.

The parking of large aircraft at the Kelowna aircraft apron occasionally obscures the tower's visibility of aircraft movements in the holding area for runway 15.

Nav Canada has successful implemented sight specific procedures at the airport. For instance, an expansion of the apron area is to be completed later this year. The expansion will help alleviate the problem. Furthermore, Nav Canada is currently examining a proposal to use a series of video camera systems to ensure visibility of all manoeuvring aircraft.

[Air Transportation, April 23rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I point out to the hon. member and other members of the House of Commons that the ministry of transportation is putting safety factors as a top priority within the department and is investigating all crashes. To date, we have not received any report from the Transportation Safety Board. However. when we receive those reports we will definitely share them with all members of the House of Commons.

[Transport, April 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that Transport Canada has finalized negotiations with the city of Penticton for the transfer of the Penticton airport. The city signed the agreement to transfer on September 25, 1998. The date for the transfer of the operation to the city has been extended to May 15, 1999.

The band council advised on March 23, 1999, that it did not wish to sign the proposed documentation and opposed the transfer of the airport. Transport Canada will continue to discuss the band's concern in an attempt to reach a Canada-band agreement to deal with the land if it is no longer required as a public air zone.

[Transport, April 16th, 1999]

Yes, my answer is addressing the question.

I would like to point out that we are sticking to the regulation and are chiefly concerned with the safety of—

[Transport, April 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out to the hon. member that safety is the number one factor and our chief concern. I am sure he is quite aware of that fact. We have carefully monitored the situation in the Gaspé regarding Nav Canada services in the province of Quebec.

At the present moment, we must announce to the public that everything is according to regulations. Safety is number one and we are—

[Tom Guzik, April 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, 14 years ago Tom Guzik, a hard-working immigrant from Poland, started the first computer retail store in Thunder Bay. It was only a decade later that he expanded into the emerging field of corporate computer training.

Last weekend, at the age of 33, he was honoured as one of Thunder Bay's most successful young entrepreneurs by the city's chamber of commerce.

When the Thunder Bay market became crowded with retailers, Tom branched out into services like corporate computer training, Internet services and electronic commerce. Today his company is the biggest Internet provider in Thunder Bay.

Tom's success is a testament to Canada's being a land of opportunity and choices. His ingenuity, tenacity and work ethic is typical of what we see in many new Canadians.

We congratulate Tom Guzik and the other members of Thunder Bay's business community who were honoured by the chamber of commerce.

[Questions On The Order Paper, April 14th, 1999]

(a) Board membership in 1993: 15-17 members; 1994: 13-16 members; 1995: 14 members; 1996: 10-11 members; and 1997: 10-11 members

Section 12(1) of the Canada Ports Corporation Act stipulates that the board of directors consists of a chairman, vice-chairman and not less than 8 or more than 14 other directors. Variances in board membership are a result of vacancies not immediately filled by the minister with the approval of the governor in council.

(b) Pursuant to subsection 3.14(8) of the Canada Ports Corporation Act, directors, including the chairman and vice-chairman, are remunerated as follows: $150-300 per diem for attendance at meetings of the board or committees of the board; $150-300 per diem for loss of income when travelling for the corporation's business; $150-300 per diem when with the authorization or approval of the board a director engages in work for the corporation; reasonable expenses incurred in the course of duties in the city in which they are based; reasonable travel and living expenses incurred while absent from ordinary place of residence in the course of duties; and a salary in the range of $119,900 to $141,100 is paid to the president.

People on the Board of Directors are remunerated as follows: the chairman-annual retainer, $30,000-$35,000; the vice-chairman-annual retainer, $17,000-$20,000; and an annual retainer of $2,600-$3,500 paid to all directors.

(c) In accordance with the Privacy Act, only general statistical information on the total remuneration for all directors can be provided, instead of for individual directors:

Year—Honoraria—Per Diem—Total

1993—$91,000—$188,000—$279,000 1994—$89,800—$167,000—$256,800 1995—$68,700—$128,300—$197,000 1996—$42,800—$81,800—$124,600 1997—$51,000—$58,100—$109,100

Note: The Canada Ports Corporation directly administered national office and seven divisional ports during the period 1993 to 1997.

(d) total nomber of exempt, union, and non-exempt, non-union, employees at National office and seven divisional ports:

1993: 183 employees 1994: 185 employees 1995: 154 employees 1996: 109 employees 1997: 102 employees

(e) Average and median salary for all exempt and non-exempt employees at national office and seven divisional ports:

—Average—Median

1993: $53,503—$75,986 1994: $51,717—$75,986 1995: $54,804—$73,648 1996: $55,777—$74,842 1997: $49,517—$77,007

Question No. 205—

[Questions On The Order Paper, April 13th, 1999]

(a) The Halifax Port Corporation did enter into a lease agreement with Scotia Terminals Limited for facilities at Pier 9A. The lease commenced December 1, 1998. A tender call for the lease was not issued. In fact, it would be highly unusual for the Halifax Port Corporation to call for tenders to lease facilities. Neither HPC's enabling legislation nor its internal policies require it to call for tenders for leases.

(b) No.

(c) In 1996, the dock, which was constructed over 50 years ago, was declared unsafe and taken out of service. The proposal to lease facilities put forward by Scotia Terminals Limited provided the necessary support for the decision to carry out the $5.3 million repair expenditure. The repairs were at the cost of HPC.

(d) In the past five years there have been two other leases of a multimillion dollar port facility. One was to PanCanadian Petroleum Limited at Shed 9B and the other was to Colbalt Refinery Limited at Shed 22. The latter area was subsequently leased to Scotia Terminals Limited. The lease terminated on November 30, 1998 when the operation moved to the Pier 9A facility.

(e) The Halifax Port Corporation deems the amount of revenue to be generated by the lease as commercially sensitive and privileged information.

(f) The officers and directors of Scotia Terminals Limited are:

President: Bernard Prévost Secretary/Treasurer: Harry Mathers Comptroller: Cheryl Newcombe

Directors: Harry Mathers Bernard Prévost

Question No. 177—

[Criminal Code, March 16th, 1999]

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.

[Criminal Code, March 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, as we have said before in the House, meetings have already been held between Devco's management and union representatives to review the human resources package and they continue to meet.

I am pleased to say that co-operation between management and the union is strong at the present time. Before the roof fall at Phalen colliery, production was very good. Since the roof fall, unions and management have been working together to clean up the coal face and assess the damage. To this end, both the unions and management have hired independent experts to assess 8 east wall with Devco management agreeing to pay half of the union's independent expert.

To reiterate, the criteria to determine eligibility for the early retirement incentive program have not been pulled out of a hat. They are the criteria that were negotiated between Devco and its unions through a joint planning committee in 1996. They are the criteria that Devco's collective agreements indicate shall apply to the early retirement incentive program for any further workforce reductions. The $111 million in funding that has been approved by the government for workforce adjustment measures includes $60 million for an early retirement incentive program, $46 million for severance packages and $5 million for training for employees who receive severance packages.

I want to make it clear that the early retirement incentive program has absolutely no relationship to the pension benefits that Devco's employees have earned through participation in one of the corporation's pension plans. Workers will continue to be eligible for any earned pension benefits.