West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky MP Pam Goldsmith-Jones says the Liberal government will introduce legislation on abandoned and derelict vessels “very soon.”
Goldsmith-Jones made the comments after Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP Sheila Malcolmson of the NDP introduced a private member’s bill, similar to one introduced by the riding’s previous NDP member.
The bill would designate the Canadian Coast Guard as the agency responsible for directing the removal and recycling of abandoned vessels, set up a strategy in collaboration with local and provincial governments, improve vessel registration systems, and create a “turn-in” program and support local marine salvage businesses in an effort to discourage owners from abandoning their boats in the first place.
In an email to Coast Reporter, Goldsmith-Jones said, “The Department of Transport is coordinating multiple departments to create a new regulatory scheme for licensing vessels and for assessing risk and assigning responsibility for removal, among a myriad of other considerations. This is something I follow up on regularly with [Transportation] Minister [Marc] Garneau.”
Goldsmith-Jones also said she thinks “MP Malcolmson will be happy and likely to be supportive” of the government’s bill when it comes forward.
Malcolmson expressed frustration with the Trudeau government on Tuesday, saying they promised action within six months of MPs giving unanimous backing to a motion on derelict and abandoned vessels last October.
“Budget 2017 re-announced the Oceans Protections Plan, but we have yet to see any money budgeted, legislation tabled, or mechanisms identified to deal with abandoned vessels,” Malcolmson said in a release. “That’s a clear violation of the federal government’s promise to take meaningful steps by April 26.”
