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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

Meeting No. 16

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities met by teleconference at 3:38 p.m. this day, in Room 209 West Block, the Chair, Merv C. Tweed, presiding.

Members of the Committee present: Dennis Bevington, Lois Brown, Sukh Dhaliwal, Roger Gaudet, Candice Hoeppner, Brian Jean, Gerard Kennedy, Mario Laframboise, Colin Mayes, Merv C. Tweed, Hon. Joseph Volpe and Jeff Watson.

Acting Members present: Cheryl Gallant for Merv C. Tweed, Andrew Kania for Sukh Dhaliwal, Andrew Kania for Gerard Kennedy and Francis Valeriote for Sukh Dhaliwal.

In attendance: Library of Parliament: Allison Padova, Analyst . House of Commons: Wayne Cole, Legislative Clerk.

Witnesses: Tourism Industry Association of Canada: Christopher Jones, Vice-President, Public Affairs. Department of Transport: Mark Gauthier, General Counsel, Legal Services; Donald Roussel, Director General, Marine Safety; Jerry Rysanek, Executive Director, International Marine Policy and Liability.

Pursuant to the Order of Reference of Monday, March 30, 2009, the Committee resumed consideration of Bill C-7, An Act to amend the Marine Liability Act and the Federal Courts Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.

Christopher Jones made a statement and answered questions.

The Committee commenced its clause-by-clause study of the Bill.

Mark Gauthier, Donald Roussel and Jerry Rysanek answered questions.

The Chair called Clause 1.

On Clause 1,

Joseph Volpe moved, — That Bill C-7, in Clause 1, be amended by deleting lines 13 and 14 on page 1.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Joseph Volpe and it was negatived.

Brian Jean moved, — That Bill C-7, in Clause 1, be amended by replacing line 14 on page 1 with the following:

propelled manually by paddles or oars and operated for a commercial or public purpose; and

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Brian Jean and it was agreed to.

Clause 1, as amended, carried on division.

Clause 2 carried.

On Clause 3,

Brian Jean moved, — That Bill C-7, in Clause 3, be amended by replacing line 16 on page 3 with the following:

prevented;

(c.1) a stowaway, a trespasser or any other person who boards a ship without the consent or knowledge of the master or the owner; or

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Brian Jean and it was agreed to.

Clause 3, as amended, carried.

Clauses 4 to 6 inclusive carried severally.

On Clause 7,

Joseph Volpe moved, — That Bill C-7, in Clause 7, be amended by replacing line 26 on page 4 with the following:

“air cushion vehicle or, except when used for an activity referred to in subsection 37.1(1), a vessel propelled”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Joseph Volpe and it was negatived.

Clause 7 carried.

On Clause 8,

Brian Jean moved, — That Bill C-7, in Clause 8, be amended by

(a) replacing lines 37 and 38 on page 4 with the following:

of subparagraph (i) and by adding the

(b) replacing line 3 on page 5 with the following:

have prevented, and

(iv) a stowaway, a trespasser or any other person who boards a ship without the consent or knowledge of the master or the owner.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Brian Jean and it was agreed to on division.

Clause 8, as amended, carried.

On Clause 9,

Joseph Volpe moved, — That Bill C-7, in Clause 9, be amended by replacing line 14 on page 5 with the following:

“(c) participants are exposed to significantly greater risks”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Joseph Volpe and it was negatived.

Joseph Volpe moved, — That Bill C-7, in Clause 9, be amended by adding after line 19 on page 5 the following:

“(d.1) the ship is seaworthy and suitable for the activity for which it is to be used and is properly crewed, equipped and supplied; and”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Joseph Volpe and it was negatived.

Clause 9 carried.

At 4:17 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:23 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Hon. Joe Volpe took the Chair.

Gerard Kennedy moved, — That given the urgency of ensuring that the $12 billion in new infrastructure funding is being distributed quickly, fairly and effectively and the limited window that exists to influence those measures given government targets, that the Committee call as a witness the Parliamentary Budget Officer during the week of May 4 to 8 to answer questions on the tracking of Budget 2009 infrastructure and other stimulus spending, including but not limited to the number of jobs being created and the regional distribution of the stimulus spending.

Debate arose thereon.

At 5:33 p.m., the Committee adjourned until 3:30 p.m. on May 7, 2009.

Maxime Ricard
Clerk of the Committee

2009/06/02 9:10 a.m.