BC shipping chamber applauds amendments to Pilotage Act

The following is text of a news release from the Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia:

(VANCOUVER, British Columbia) — With an emphasis on good governance and adapting with emerging technologies, the government of Canada's proposed amendments to the Pilotage Act deliver long-awaited changes. Wrapped into the Budget Implementation Act, the amendments to the Pilotage Act follow an extensive review chaired by Marc Gregoire and adopt several key recommendations tabled in the final report.

Bill C-97 addresses several themes, including centralization of regulatory powers and standardization, increased transparency, and necessary powers of enforcement. The Chamber of Shipping applauds these changes and supports the improvements that they will have on the safety, efficiency and overall competitiveness of the industry.

"Canada's pilotage framework is executed by a team of professional mariners that is second to none. These recent amendments will enhance safety and competitiveness at a time when marine transportation faces new pressures for coastal protection," stated chamber President Robert Lewis-Manning. "We encourage the federal government to focus effort on modernizing Canada's pilotage to be more flexible and better support conservation objectives, including species at risk, while ensuring the competitiveness for Canadian imports and exports."

As the maritime industry has been challenged with the existing pilotage framework, we applaud the government of Canada with its decision to move forward with modernizing the Pilotage Act with the most substantive amendments since 1972. The chamber and its members will remain engaged stakeholders and look forward to working with Transport Canada and Pilotage Authorities in further enhancements to Canada's pilotage framework.

By Professional Mariner Staff