Regulations Repealing the Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations: SOR/2019-80

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 153, Number 7

Registration
SOR/2019-80 March 26, 2019

PILOTAGE ACT

P.C. 2019-219 March 25, 2019

RESOLUTION

Whereas the Atlantic Pilotage Authority, pursuant to subsections 20(3) and 34(1) footnote a of the Pilotage Act footnote b, published the proposed Regulations Repealing the Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations, in the annexed form, in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on November 10, 2018;

Therefore, the Atlantic Pilotage Authority, pursuant to subsections 20(1) and 33(1) of the Pilotage Act footnote b, makes the annexed Regulations Repealing the Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations.

Halifax, January 28, 2019

Captain Sean Griffiths
Chief Executive Officer
Atlantic Pilotage Authority

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Transport, pursuant to subsections 20(1) and 33(1) of the Pilotage Act footnote b, approves the annexed Regulations Repealing the Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations, made by the 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1 The Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations footnote 1 are repealed.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.

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 amendment is to repeal the Atlantic Pilotage Authority Non-compulsory Area Regulations.

Description

This amendment 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 amendment 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. As a result, neither shippers nor private ice advisors are expected to be impacted by the amendment. 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. This 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.

This amendment was prepublished in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on November 10, 2018, and allowed a 30-day comment period to provide interested persons with the opportunity to make comments or to file a notice of objection. No comments were received and no notices of objection were filed.

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 amendment 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