Transport committee  On our side, there's a bit less of a language issue. It does exist, but there is a bit less because some of the training is already done in English in other countries, or French in other countries as well, so it's a bit less on our side. For training, it depends. It can be one ye

Transport committee  Ultimately, the operators themselves are promoting the jobs, and indeed I'm aware of a number of operators that are in schools promoting the programs and explaining the jobs. Imagine Marine, of the Canadian Marine Industry Foundation, is also doing a great job on that front. Our

Transport committee  One of the key things that people look at when they come to Canada is that.... They've been trained in their own country, and they've done a lot of work to get that training, yet their credentials are not recognized. It's disappointing for them when they are training to internati

Transport committee  Our sector is federally regulated, sir. This comes back to the federal government and federal regulations.

Transport committee  The only thing I would add, is that there are solutions that could help improve the situation, especially when it comes to federal regulations. We could certainly sign international agreements. Some solutions have been requested and they wouldn't cost millions of dollars. If you

Transport committee  Thank you for that question. It's a great question. We've actually looked at a number of solutions in the past. We can talk about indigenous communities also. A number of our members have programs to attract indigenous people to the sector. For newcomers as well, a lot of work

Transport committee  You'll never hear me saying that the government is a solution to everything. Our members are doing their part, and need to do their part. It's too easy to say the government is responsible for everything. Our members are doing their part and making sure that people are welcome a

Transport committee  In the ferry sector, we're in trouble. We're often one person away from tying the ship and not enabling passengers and goods to come through. Last year, when the vaccine mandates came, some employees refused to work. We tied a number of ferries down. Now that it's removed, some

Transport committee  I can't quantify it, but I'd like to continue on the point. The agreement with Ukraine was signed. There is an agreement with France, Norway, Australia and Georgia, and the Canadian government is looking at signing an agreement with Brunei and then with the Philippines. The agr

Transport committee  There is indeed new technology. A ship that was built 40 years ago in no way resembles the ships that we have today. However, this new technology that would allow us to reduce the number of crew members is also regulated by Transport Canada, and the regulations do not always keep

Transport committee  I wouldn't say it's to that extent, but they are increasing. I would say we're competitive. I was talking to Transport Canada a few days ago. They mentioned that we were poaching some of their candidates, because we were offering very good salaries. I would say, perhaps, that w

Transport committee  I understand. If we raise salaries in the ferry sector, those employees are going to come from another sector. They may come from the shipping sector, so suddenly the shipping sector is going to have a crash or is going to be dealing with something else. We are actually competing

Transport committee  The report was good, with lots of great recommendations, but we're keen on seeing the actions coming out of that rather than just the report. Having a czar and a secretariat is also great. We're having issues manning other departments right now, so I don't know about creating a b

Transport committee  The awareness is one thing. Every industry, right now, is competing for workers. If we take more workers from the Canadian population, we're going to limit it for another industry. The issue is immigration. Are we unique on that point? There's a certain uniqueness to the marine

Transport committee  We have workers who are getting on in years. The chief engineer of one of our operators is over 73 years old. How much longer can we ask them to stay on? I don't know, it's hard to say.