SFC Appears Before Standing Committee on Transport

The Federation appeared before the House Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities on October 4^th to provide comments on the Committee’s study regarding a Canadian transportation and logistics strategy. 

Our comments to the Committee focused on modernizing Canada’s trade corridors from a national perspective, and recommended that the government undertake the following key actions in order to increase the efficiency of vessel operations in Canadian waters for the ultimate benefit of the transportation system as a whole:

• Invest in modernizing Canada’s Marine Communication Traffic Service (MCTS), with a view to transforming it into a truly dynamic tool that is able to gather, analyze and broadcast real-time navigational information not only on to the bridge management team, but also to shoreside infrastructure such as ports and terminals.
• Develop a concrete plan for renewing the Coast Guard’s icebreaking fleet in the long term, with a view to ensuring that Canada has sufficient icebreaking capacity to meet future demand for safe and efficient marine transportation.
• Implement the recommendations arising from the Pilotage Act review, with a view to enhancing the system’s ability to control costs and consistently provide users with the level of service they require in a highly competitive marine transportation environment.
• Implement a “maritime single window” concept in Canada, with a view to ensuring that all of the information required by CBSA and other Canadian authorities related to the arrival and departure of ships in Canadian waters could be submitted electronically through a single portal without duplication.

In addition to delivering our prepared remarks, we also had the opportunity to answer specific questions from Committee members on a variety of subjects, including the outcomes of the Pilotage Act review, the current state of the CCG’s icebreaking fleet, the need for better data in the marine mode, and the need for the government to develop a national strategy to guide its decisions and investments related to Canada’s trade corridors. 

Copies of the Federation’s prepared remarks to the Committee can be found at this link.