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Minutes of Proceedings

44th Parliament, 1st Session
Meeting 95
Monday, December 11, 2023, 3:31 p.m. to 8:03 p.m.
Webcast
Presiding
Peter Schiefke, Chair (Liberal)

House of Commons
• Philippe Méla, Legislative Clerk
 
Library of Parliament
• Geneviève Gosselin, Analyst
• Alexandre Lafrenière, Analyst
Department of Transport
• Sonya Read, Director General, Marine Policy
• Heather Moriarty, Director, Ports Policy
• Rachel Heft, Manager and Senior Counsel, Transport and Infrastructure Legal Services
• Amy Kaufman, Counsel
Pursuant to the order of reference of Tuesday, September 26, 2023, the committee resumed consideration of Bill C-33, An Act to amend the Customs Act, the Railway Safety Act, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, the Marine Transportation Security Act, the Canada Transportation Act and the Canada Marine Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act.

The witnesses answered questions.

The committee resumed its clause-by-clause study of the Bill.

The committee resumed clause-by-clause consideration on Clause 120 of the Bill.

The committee resumed consideration of the subamendment of Alistair MacGregor, — That the amendment be amended by replacing the text of the amendment with the following:

“(1.1) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the prohibition, by December 31, 2029, of the loading and unloading of thermal coal to and from ships in a port.

(1.2) If no regulations are made under subsection (1.1) within 48 months after the day on which this section comes into force the Minister must cause a report stating the reasons that no such regulations have been made and establishing a schedule for making regulations to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 10 days on which that House is sitting after the expiry of that 48-month period.”.

By unanimous consent, the subamendment was withdrawn.

Bonita Zarrillo moved, — That the amendment be amended

(a) by replacing “Regulations made under paragraph (1)(a) must prohibit” with the following:

“The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the prohibition of”

(b) by adding the following after subsection (1.1):

“(1.2) In making regulations under subsection (1.1), the Governor in Council must consult with relevant trade unions on ways to protect port workers who will be affected by the regulations, including by providing for continued collective bargaining, for the respect of collective agreements, for the creation of alternative opportunities in the marine transportation sector and for pension bridging.

(1.3) Regulations made under subsection (1.1) must provide for the prohibition of the loading and unloading of all thermal coal to and from ships in a port no later than December 31, 2030.

(1.4) If no regulations are made under subsection (1.1) within 48 months after the day on which this section comes into force, the Minister must cause a report stating the reasons that no regulations have been made and establishing a schedule for making regulations to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 10 days on which that House is sitting after the expiry of that 48- month period.”.

At 3:38 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 3:40 p.m., the sitting resumed.

After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Bonita Zarrillo and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Vance Badawey, Angelo Iacono, Annie Koutrakis, Joyce Murray, Churence Rogers, Bonita Zarrillo — 6;

NAYS: Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Chris Lewis, Shuvaloy Majumdar, Dan Muys, Mark Strahl — 5.

The question was put on the amendment of Xavier Barsalou-Duval, as amended, and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Vance Badawey, Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Angelo Iacono, Annie Koutrakis, Joyce Murray, Churence Rogers, Bonita Zarrillo — 7;

NAYS: Chris Lewis, Shuvaloy Majumdar, Dan Muys, Mark Strahl — 4.

Xavier Barsalou-Duval moved, — That Bill C-33, in Clause 120, be amended by adding after line 30 on page 77 the following:

“(3) Section 62 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):

(1.1) While the loading and unloading of thermal coal is not prohibited, regulations made under subsection (1.1) must provide that the quantity of thermal coal loaded each year onto ships in a port for transport outside Canada does not exceed the quantity of thermal coal that was loaded for that purpose in 2021.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Xavier Barsalou-Duval and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Xavier Barsalou-Duval — 1;

NAYS: Vance Badawey, Angelo Iacono, Annie Koutrakis, Chris Lewis, Shuvaloy Majumdar, Joyce Murray, Dan Muys, Churence Rogers, Mark Strahl, Bonita Zarrillo — 10.

At 4:28 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:45 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Mark Strahl moved, — That Bill C-33, in Clause 120, be amended by adding after line 30 on page 77 the following:

“(3) Section 62 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):

(1.1) Regulations made under paragraph (1)(b) must prohibit the deposit of raw sewage in waters under the jurisdiction of a port authority.”

Debate arose thereon.

Xavier Barsalou-Duval moved, — That the amendment be amended by adding the words “from port activities” after the words “sewage”.

At 5:15 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 5:41 p.m., the sitting resumed.

After debate, the question was put on the subamendment of Xavier Barsalou-Duval and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Lisa Marie Barron, Xavier Barsalou-Duval — 2;

NAYS: Vance Badawey, Angelo Iacono, Annie Koutrakis, Chris Lewis, Shuvaloy Majumdar, Joyce Murray, Dan Muys, Churence Rogers, Mark Strahl — 9.

Dan Muys moved, — That the amendment be amended by replacing the text after “(1.1)” with the following: “The Governor in Council may under paragraph (1)(b) make regulations respecting the prohibition of the deposit of raw sewage in waters under the jurisdiction of a port authority”.

At 5:48 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 5:57 p.m., the sitting resumed.

The question was put on the subamendment of Dan Muys and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Vance Badawey, Lisa Marie Barron, Angelo Iacono, Annie Koutrakis, Chris Lewis, Shuvaloy Majumdar, Joyce Murray, Dan Muys, Churence Rogers, Mark Strahl — 10;

NAYS: Xavier Barsalou-Duval — 1.

Clause 120, as amended, carried on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Vance Badawey, Lisa Marie Barron, Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Angelo Iacono, Annie Koutrakis, Joyce Murray, Churence Rogers — 7;

NAYS: Chris Lewis, Shuvaloy Majumdar, Dan Muys, Mark Strahl — 4.

Clause 121 carried on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Vance Badawey, Lisa Marie Barron, Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Angelo Iacono, Annie Koutrakis, Joyce Murray, Churence Rogers — 7;

NAYS: Chris Lewis, Shuvaloy Majumdar, Dan Muys, Mark Strahl — 4.

The committee proceeded to the consideration of matters related to committee business.

Motion

Mark Strahl moved, — That the committee undertake a study on aircraft rescue and fire fighting at airports and aerodromes (Canadian Aviation Regulations, Section 303) allocating a minimum of three meetings to this study to hear from witnesses that include the International Association of Firefighters, the Canadian Airports Council and other interested parties, and that the committee report its findings to the House.

At 6:17 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 7:10 p.m., the sitting resumed.

At 7:13 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 7:14 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Motion

Vance Badawey moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Vance Badawey, Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Angelo Iacono, Annie Koutrakis, Joyce Murray, Churence Rogers, Bonita Zarrillo — 7;

NAYS: Chris Lewis, Leslyn Lewis, Dan Muys, Mark Strahl — 4.

Department of Transport
• Sonya Read, Director General, Marine Policy
• Heather Moriarty, Director, Ports Policy
• Rachel Heft, Manager and Senior Counsel, Transport and Infrastructure Legal Services
• Amy Kaufman, Counsel
Pursuant to the order of reference of Tuesday, September 26, 2023, the committee resumed consideration of Bill C-33, An Act to amend the Customs Act, the Railway Safety Act, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, the Marine Transportation Security Act, the Canada Transportation Act and the Canada Marine Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act.

Questioning of the witnesses resumed.

The committee resumed its clause-by-clause study of the Bill.

On Clause 122,

Xavier Barsalou-Duval moved, — That Bill C-33, in Clause 122, be amended

(a) by replacing line 6 on page 78 with the following:

“107.‍1 (1) If there is a”

(b) by adding after line 28 on page 78 the following:

“(6) For greater certainty, for the judicial review of an order made under subsection (1), the correctness standard applies to determine whether there was a risk of imminent harm to national security, national economic security or competition that constitutes a significant threat to the safety and security of persons, goods, ships or port facilities or the security of supply chains.”

Debate arose thereon.

At 7:47 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 7:50 p.m., the sitting resumed.

The committee proceeded to the consideration of matters related to committee business.

A point of order was raised as to the procedural acceptability of the decision of the chair.

Whereupon, Leslyn Lewis appealed the decision of the Chair.

The question: "Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?" was put and the decision was sustained on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Vance Badawey, Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Angelo Iacono, Annie Koutrakis, Joyce Murray, Churence Rogers, Bonita Zarrillo — 7;

NAYS: Chris Lewis, Leslyn Lewis, Dan Muys, Mark Strahl — 4.

Accordingly, the Chair's decision was sustained as the question was not negatived.

Mark Strahl gave notice of the following motion:

That Transport Canada provide the committee with all documents relating to the cost estimate for the TGF project and for a possible project allowing high-speed trains to run, free of any redactions; that these documents be sent to the Clerk of the committee, in both official languages, no later than Friday, January 12, 2024.

Mark Strahl gave notice of the following motion:

That VIA HFR/TGF Inc. produce to the committee all documents relating to the cost estimate for the TGF project and for a possible project allowing the circulation of high-speed trains, free of any redactions; that these documents be sent to the Clerk of the committee, in both official languages, no later than Friday, January 12, 2024.

At 8:03 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.



Carine Grand-Jean
Clerk of the committee