Fall storms that drove boats aground in Porpoise Bay, the long-awaited removal of a notorious derelict on Vancouver Island, and the recent sinking of a tug near Bella Bella are proving a fitting backdrop to the latest moves around abandoned and derelict vessels in Ottawa.
MPs voted this week on M40, a motion from a Nova Scotia Liberal that reads, in part: “The government should, in collaboration with provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous organizations, take meaningful steps to address the issue of abandoned and derelict vessels within six months of this motion being adopted by the House.”
Local MP Pam Goldsmith-Jones (West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country) spoke in favour of M40, citing several examples of concerns being raised on the Sunshine Coast.
“In my riding alone, Islands Trust, the District of Squamish, the Sunshine Coast Regional District, the Town of Gibsons, the Village of Lions Bay, Bowen Island, the District of Sechelt, and local citizens have been proactive for years in documenting the problem, researching solutions, and even taking action on their own,” Goldsmith-Jones said Monday in the House of Commons.
She outlined an abandoned vessel incident in Granthams Landing last December and more recent problems in Porpoise Bay.
“I would like to read from a recent letter I received from a resident on the shores of Porpoise Bay, in Sechelt, concerned about unseaworthy vessels being used as full-time housing or as moorage for other boats,” Goldsmith-Jones said. “She writes, ‘In the past five years, an alarming number of people have chosen to anchor their vessels in Porpoise Bay, just beyond MacKenzie’s Marina. Some are used as full-time residences, others have been anchored for years and are not being maintained. In fact, last summer one sank and the Coast Guard had to assist in containing the gas and oil spills from the sunken vessel.’ She gave further examples of a floating home buoyed by the shell of a catamaran with four boats tied up to it, and the charred remains of a tugboat with three boats tied up to it. These vessels are a threat to the environment, to enjoyment of the bay, and to navigation.”
The NDP MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith doesn’t see as much to celebrate in M40.
Sheila Malcolmson, a former chair of the Islands Trust and a long-time advocate for action on derelict vessels, told Coast Reporter that M40 says a lot of the right things about what needs to be done, but doesn’t commit the government to any action – especially after an amendment (seconded by Goldsmith-Jones) that changed the wording “create a mechanism” to “identify a mechanism” in the clause “create a mechanism for government to assist in the removal of an abandoned vessel where its presence creates an economic burden for a community.”
Malcolmson has a private member’s bill (C-219) to make the Coast Guard responsible for dealing with derelict or abandoned vessels, sitting at first reading.
“What I tabled back in February was a legislative solution, which is to make the Coast Guard one-stop shopping. A big part of the problem we’ve heard from the local government and community organization side is that there’s no one department that takes responsibility for this,” Malcolmson said. “[M40] is just words of general intent, and it’s a good shopping list, but it’s not legislation.”
Pressed by Malcolmson during Question Period on Oct. 21, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Dominic LeBlanc once again promised that legislation is on the horizon.
“It is a problem that our government has committed to rectify. The minister of transport and I have been working with a number of stakeholders, and I know that the member is excited about the plan that we will be tabling. The good news for all members of the House is that the plan is coming very soon.”
“I’m optimistic, but I’m dismayed that they haven’t given us more to bite into when they’ve been saying since April that they will,” said Malcolmson. “This motion (M40) is just more platitudes. It’s not going to change anything for coastal communities.”
