Fisheries committee  I think in the Pacific region we are much the same as Newfoundland. There are harbour authorities that give donations to the municipality in lieu of taxes, but by and large most harbour authorities are exempt. Some municipalities insist on being paid taxes. We're encouraged by the recent court case in Ontario, which has said that harbour authorities are exempt from taxes in that province, so I would assume that's going to be something we can look forward to.

Fisheries committee  I'm a commercial fisherman. We've been in that fire a long time, right? We don't feel the heat any more. You know, it is an issue. You look behind and you don't see a lot of young people coming up into the fishing industry. You hope things are going to get better, because that's going to allow you to recruit more volunteers.

Fisheries committee  I love this question. Harbour authorities are independent organizations. We have within that structure the ability to set our rates. I would really question the fact that it's not working. Our revenues were $11 million ten years ago. Today, a conservative estimate puts them at $24 million.

Fisheries committee  Are you referring to the derelict vessel problem in Pacific region? I'm not quite sure what you were referring to in the Pacific region.

Fisheries committee  Yes, okay. In the Pacific region a committee has been formed to study the issue. It involves agencies from small craft harbours throughout the province, but also the volunteer organizations, harbour authorities, and what's called the HABC, the Harbour Authority Association of B.C.

Fisheries committee  Yes, it's a matter of scale. You're going to get what you pay for, at the end of the day.

Fisheries committee  A $40 million increase would?

Fisheries committee  I think...but I would put the number far higher than that.

Fisheries committee  I think you raise a great point. For years we've been playing catch-up here. At some point we can't do that; we're going to lose facilities. We have facilities now that are becoming divested because they become derelict.

Fisheries committee  Well, we all know why; it's because of lack of funds. It's great, at some point, to get the $200 million so that there's a good portion of work being done in a very short period of time, but we know that's not realistic for a long-term plan. You see this throughout the country.

Fisheries committee  Yes, I think it's worth remembering that we have a fund right now for divestiture. I believe it was $45 million over five years. That's still available. And I echo the comments. A-base funding is critical. If our A-base funding is increased and there are problems, we can solve the problems.

Fisheries committee  Thanks. We've talked at this table before about the $40,000, and the thing we have to realize is that $40,000 doesn't do much of a project any more. Most of the time what we have to do in the harbours is take a project and break it down into pieces so that we don't exceed that limit.

Fisheries committee  In the Pacific region, I think you have to remember too that of the $200 million, only a third of the harbours were actually affected by that money. So two-thirds of the harbours are still waiting for money for projects. As the president of the harbour authority, it's my job for sure to make sure that our planning process is appropriate, so we work on five-year plans.

Fisheries committee  In the Pacific region, as you know, it's a big source of our revenue. We rely heavily on recreational boaters. The one advantage we have, of course, is year-round moorage. We don't have to pull boats out and we don't have ice problems. So our ability to accommodate recreational boaters through the winter is a big source of revenue for us.

Fisheries committee  I have a couple of comments. When you talk about the Transport Canada docks, I think in our region the certain impact that it had was that a lot of our uses for various harbours suddenly had to be amalgamated into one harbour. I know that especially in my area we had a Transport Canada dock that we were using for an off-loading facility.