Transport committee  If the climate plan were specifically about the port authority on its own and didn't include the broader port community, that would be achievable. I would say that it's not achievable in respect of the broader port, because the port authority doesn't control or have the ability to be able to compel the kind of participation that would be required from industry.

Transport committee  Yes. This is a continuous improvement process. The inputs that we need to be able to decarbonize the port.... It's not that the terminals aren't doing the right thing; they are doing the right thing, but we need a supply of alternative energy. We need Vancouver to become an energy hub for things like hydrogen, ethanol and other things that will allow us to decarbonize more broadly.

Transport committee  Yes, the measures in Bill C-33 will help us do that more effectively. Obviously, the regulation will spell out exactly how that is. We manage the anchorages on an interim protocol basis in the Gulf Islands and directly in terms of our jurisdiction, and the changes that are required are mostly in the areas where we don't have jurisdiction.

Transport committee  I think that, when the legislation was first tabled, we were relieved, because we were concerned where it might go, and it didn't go in a different direction than we were already going, for the most part, with the exception of some of the governance things. I think that's what we're happiest about.

Transport committee  I'd say I like the inclusion of the indigenous peoples in the purpose clause. I like the provision for us to be able to direct traffic, and I like the intention of giving us a better process around borrowing limits. Hopefully it will help.

Transport committee  As I said, I think that the vast majority of changes that we think are needed to port governance do not stem from the legislation itself. They are things that can be done in consultation with Transport Canada through changes to regulation and letters patent.

Transport committee  The legislation doesn't respond to our submission on the port modernization review. But our submission, as I said, was not primarily about the need to change the legislation. It was about the need to change a lot of the regulations that relate to our operations.

Transport committee  Yes, the devil is in the detail, which in this case is regulation.

Transport committee  I know, from what we've heard from smaller ports—MP Strahl spoke to this—that the legislation looks like it was designed on a lot of the things that we're doing. I know that we've heard directly from many of our colleague ports about how concerned they are about its being an onerous piece of legislation for them, and we support the association's position on that and their perspective.

Transport committee  We would be spending millions. We are spending millions on those kinds of things to do them at the scale that we need in a port the size of Vancouver, and I don't have a sense of how it would be for smaller ports. They're best to speak to that themselves.

Transport committee  I think additional tools and flexibility would be terrific. I'm not sure how much of it is required in the legislation versus.... If we move to a market-based borrowing regime, that's obviously going to speed things up in terms of getting borrowing limits approved and being able to be nimble.

Transport committee  We could bring equity partners into developments—that kind of thing, just with more flexibility. When we made our submission on the port modernization review, it was almost entirely about regulatory change, not the act itself. We basically supported the act as it stood as an excellent, well-thought-out, forward-thinking piece of legislation with very few changes needed.

Transport committee  Yes, absolutely. I'd be pleased to present amendments to try to improve the bill. And I do think that in some cases it's adding layers of process in places where frankly.... Even when it comes to liaison committees, we made the decision on our own because it was the right thing to do for our business at the time to put those committees together, and having them in the act seems a bit of an overkill.

Transport committee  I think from where we sit there is not, as I said in my remarks, really a large impact, other than some of the very specific things like traffic management and reporting requirements. But most of those things are just a slight tweak to what we're doing right now.

Transport committee  We feel that the Canada Marine Act was created to depoliticize ports and put us in a position where we can be nimble in decision-making, and frankly, sometimes make difficult decisions that are in Canada's interest without interference from politics. It is a concern to us.