Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 152, Number 45: Regulations Repealing the Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations
November 10, 2018
Statutory authority
Pilotage Act
Sponsoring agency
Atlantic Pilotage Authority
REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT
(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)
Issues
In 2013, the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations (SJCSR) identified several issues with the Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations (the Regulations). The most salient of these issues is the view that section 18 of the Regulations is ultra vires with respect to the Pilotage Act.
Background
The Atlantic Pilotage Authority (the Authority) is a Crown corporation with a mandate to establish, operate, maintain, and administer a safe and efficient pilotage service in the Canadian waters surrounding Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Within this region, the Authority designates the specific areas where pilotage services are to be delivered.
Objectives
The objective of the proposal is to comply with the request of the SJCSR by repealing the Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations.
Description
This proposal seeks to repeal the Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations.
"One-for-One" Rule
The "One-for-One" Rule does not apply to these amendments, as there is no change in administrative costs or burden to business. The proposal will result in the "OUT" of one regulatory title.
Small business lens
The small business lens does not apply to these amendments, as there are no costs to small business.
Consultation
Shippers who traverse the waters described in the Regulations in question have chosen to enlist navigational services from private ice advisors rather than from pilots licensed under the Regulations. Thus, neither shippers nor private ice advisors are expected to be impacted by the proposal. At present, there is one pilot who maintains a licence under the Regulations, and the repeal of the Regulations would terminate the validity of this licence. The sole pilot was consulted over the phone by the Authority on June 25, 2018, and did not raise objections when the Authority informed that pilot that the pilot's licence would no longer be valid. This is because the individual has not performed a pilotage assignment within the waters described in the Regulations in nearly one decade, and is not planning to do so in the future.
Rationale
The Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations have governed the delivery of the Authority's pilotage services in the waters not established as compulsory pilotage areas, notwithstanding those exempt under subsection 3(2), since their inception in 1986 (SOR/86-1004). The intent of the Regulations was to provide the Authority with some means to license and ensure the availability of pilots who would operate in the waters not established as compulsory pilotage areas during the winter months, when navigation through the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River can be difficult due to ice. The Authority developed the Regulations in tandem with the Laurentian Pilotage Authority (LPA), which issued the Laurentian Pilotage Authority District No. 3 Regulations (the District No. 3 Regulations) in 1987 (SOR/87-58). Over the decades, industry has chosen to enlist navigational services from private ice advisors rather than from pilots licensed under the Regulations. In fact, no pilotage assignment has been completed under the Regulations since 2010. Following the LPA's repeal of the District No. 3 Regulations in 2015 (SOR/2015-35), the Authority remains the only Pilotage Authority in Canada with regulations pertaining to waters that are not established as compulsory pilotage areas.
Implementation, enforcement and service standards
The proposal is expected to produce no change to compliance and enforcement.
Contact
Captain Sean Griffiths
Chief Executive Officer
Atlantic Pilotage Authority
TD Tower, Suite 1801
1791 Barrington Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia
B3J 3K9
Telephone: 902-426-2550
Fax: 902-426-4004
PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT
Notice is given, pursuant to subsection 20(3) and 34(1) footnote a of the Pilotage Act footnote b, that the Atlantic Pilotage Authority, pursuant to subsections 20(1) and 33(1) of that Act, proposes to make the annexed Regulations Repealing the Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations.
Interested persons who have reason to believe that the repeal, by the proposed Regulations, of any qualification for the holder of a licence is not in the public interest may, pursuant to subsection 21(1) of that Act, file a notice of objection setting out the grounds for the objection with the Minister of Transport within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. In addition, interested persons may make representations concerning the proposed Regulations to the Minister of Transport within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice.
Each notice of objection or representation must be clearly marked as a notice of objection or representation, cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be sent to Anmarie Harris, Senior Policy Advisor, Crown Corporations and Portfolio Governance, Department of Transport, Place de Ville, Tower C, 23rd Floor, 330 Sparks Street, Ottawa, ON K1A 0N5 (tel: 613-990-1048; email: anmarie.harris@tc.gc.ca).
Halifax, October 29, 2018
Captain Sean Griffiths
Chief Executive Officer, Atlantic Pilotage Authority
Regulations Repealing the Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations
Repeal
1 The Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations footnote 1 are repealed.
Coming into Force
2 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.