Finance committee  You're not off. It's just that Transport Canada has been trying to divest of ports for a while, as you probably know. In terms of the port authorities, the idea is just that it would be one more opportunity for a buyer, potentially. Also, because they have expertise in the port b

Finance committee  They can't acquire any property like this without the minister's approval through an issuance of what are called supplementary letters patent, which amends their letters patent. In that sense, there is a control mechanism on what they're doing.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  The other important point is that they have to be financially self-sustaining. I don't want to call them controls, but there are embedded checks and balances in the Canada Marine Act on that respect as well.

Finance committee  Again, this gets back to the divestiture program specifics themselves. I believe, but I will check for you, that there is a clause now that requires anyone who is taking over a port, whether it be a port authority or another department, or a municipality, or a province, or whatev

Finance committee  No, there is nothing I am aware of in that regard.

Finance committee  I would say that there is nothing to prevent consultations by Canadian port authorities vis-à-vis municipalities. In terms of divestiture, unfortunately that's not my specific area, so I'm not sure. I know a public notice is put out, but I'm not sure about the specifics. I can

Finance committee  Can I clarify whether it is in terms of the divestiture of Transport Canada-owned ports, or in terms of a Canadian port authority specifically acquiring Transport Canada...?

Finance committee  What I can say on regulatory changes is that all of our regulations follow the Canada Gazette process, so in that sense they are published. Normally, we would have consultations with the department anyway, with stakeholders and the public. However, there is a formal process und

Finance committee  I just want to be clear in terms of what's being proposed under these amendments. For a TC-divested port, the only amendment we're making here is that the Canada port authorities would potentially be able to acquire those lands. In terms of everything else, like anything else th

Finance committee  My understanding is that some Canadian port authorities are interested in acquiring certain Transport Canada ports. There is a directive that the federal government has in terms of divesting. Port authorities aren't at the top of that list. There's sort of a list that has to go t

Finance committee  I'm not an expert on the divestiture process; it's a different part of the department. My colleagues can correct me if they know more, but my understanding is that as an individual, a Transport Canada port is put on the market, for lack of a better term, but as the list is exha

Finance committee  The current federal environmental laws, including the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act, and laws such as that, would continue to apply. I think you are probably talking about the second set of amendments that are proposed here. In that regard, the idea is

Finance committee  In terms of existing federal laws like the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and the Fisheries Act, there wouldn't be any changes to those that I am aware of. What we would be able to do in this instance is to take an established regime, established regulations, laws and en

Finance committee  You're correct in saying a Canadian port authority. There are two types of ports, just to sort of back up a little bit. One is the Canada port authorities; there are 18 of those. Currently, they don't have the ability to acquire a public port because they're federal properties. T