Transport committee  That's okay. I'm going to cut through all the fluff and get right down to it, Chair. Thank you, Chair and committee, for having us here today to speak on behalf of the Seafarers' International Union. As many of you are aware, the SIU represents the majority of unlicensed seafare

Transport committee  Again, I'm going to take the easy way out and go back to the waiver system. It's put in ahead of time, there are screenings done, and basically everything is looked at, Mr. Badawey. That kind of incident happens more than you think, and there isn't a protocol. Again, as you've

Transport committee  I'm not an expert in the trucking industry, but I'll attempt anything. If you're looking under NAFTA, I know there are provisions in NAFTA right now that allow for cross-border trucking between Mexico and the United States. From what I understand, that provision has never been im

Transport committee  It's all considered cabotage.

Transport committee  It's considered cabotage. I have another example that goes right to maritime. Oil or bitumen leaves the tar sands and goes to Texas, where it's processed, put back in a ship, and brought back to Canada. That's all cabotage because of the origin of it. That's the definition under

Transport committee  It's still considered a product. The container is the movement of the product.

Transport committee  Again, that movement is taking place. I think we've established that it takes place by rail or truck. Now the foreign ship operator wants to move it. Why?

Transport committee  It's still a cabotage run, and under the definitions of cabotage that are there, that's cabotage. That's considered cabotage, because you're moving something between two Canadian ports. This has to be perfectly clear. That shipowner still has the ability to move that. All he has

Transport committee  Absolutely. As I said earlier, I was fortunate enough—and I still am—to be involved with the ITF and to inspect foreign-flagged vessels that come into Canada and travel around the world. There is absolutely no comparison. You have 5% of the owners who run foreign-flagged vessel

Transport committee  I'll talk about the Canadian domestic fleet. For our domestic fleet there has been a newbuild program ongoing now for a few years. I look at Canada Steamship Lines, or at Algoma Central, or Groupe Desgagnés. They have all updated their fleets, and they have all gone to cleaner-bu

Transport committee  When I look at the language, I don't know whether that has been clarified yet when it comes to sharing agreements for charter, for ownership, for all of those different things. You have to get a really good explanation of what “non-revenue basis” means. They still talk about $400

Transport committee  I am going to try to give you an answer without giving you an answer. I've had many meetings. Everyone of course knows my concerns when it comes to cabotage, and Bill C-30, and CETA, and Bill C-49, and China and whoever the hell else we have on the list, but when it comes to con

Transport committee  Excluding this?

Transport committee  Maybe.

Transport committee  Are you talking about CETA or Bill C-49?