Support for a Vancouver Island MP’s proposal for a federal bill on derelict and abandoned vessels is picking up steam.
The Regional District of Nanaimo is the latest to jump on the bandwagon to endorse Bill C-352, which Nanaimo-Ladysmith MP Sheila Malcolmson introduced in Parliament on April 13. The Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities also unanimously supported it.
Malcolmson presented her proposed bill at the regional district board meeting last week.
Bill C-352, she told the board, would see the Canadian Coast Guard as the designated agency responsible for directing the removal and recycling of abandoned vessels. It will eliminate finger-pointing as to who has jurisdiction, she said.
It will also lead to a coast-wide strategy in collaboration with local and provincial governments, establish improved vessel registration systems, and set up a fee for vessels disposal.
A pilot “turn-in” program at safe recycling businesses will help prevent vessels from being abandoned, she explained. As well, it will create good green jobs through the support of local marine salvage business.
Bill Veenhof, RDN board chairman, said the bill is important because it protects the coast, jobs and businesses. In Deep Bay, he related, they recently had to remove three large abandoned vessels.
“Any one, had they sank, would have put 60 people out of work,” said Veenhof. “So it’s really a big deal.”
Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns recently slammed the federal government for not taking action on derelict vessels.
On Oct. 26, 2016, he said, Members of Parliament voted unanimously to give the government six months to address the issue. To this day nothing has happened.
“This is unacceptable given Parliament’s unanimous vote to protect Canada’s coastline,” said Johns. “Abandoned vessels continue to harm the environment and put jobs at risk.”
Last year, MP Johns toured Baynes Sound with regional directors, seeing first hand the impact of derelict vessels on the surrounding environment, including the sensitive shellfish industry.
Johns has since been working with local stakeholders to address the issue and was instrumental in getting the Silver King removed from the ocean as it was listing dangerously. Hazardous materials such as asbestos, fuel, and bilge water were subsequently removed.
“Now we need a plan to deal with the hundreds of other abandoned vessels threatening our coast,” said Johns. “It’s long overdue.”
