Vol. 136, No. 27 — July 6, 2002

Regulations Amending the Laurentian Pilotage Tariff Regulations

Statutory Authority

Pilotage Act

Sponsoring Agency

Laurentian Pilotage Authority

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

Description

The Laurentian Pilotage Authority (the Authority) is responsible for administering, in the interests of safety, an efficient pilotage service within Canadian waters in and around the Province of Quebec, north of the northern entrance to St. Lambert Lock, except the waters of Chaleur Bay, south of Cap d'Espoir in latitude 48 degrees 25 minutes 08 seconds N, longitude 64 degrees 19 minutes 06 seconds W. The Authority also prescribes tariffs of pilotage charges that are fair and reasonable and consistent with providing revenues sufficient to permit the Authority to operate on a self-sustaining financial basis.

The increase is 3.95 percent, effective January 1, 2003, and takes into account loan repayments, the costs arising from pilotage contract negotiations and the projected rate of inflation. This tariff increase is consistent with the Authority's revised corporate plan objectives and will provide the Authority with the means to maintain financial self-sufficiency. This tariff increase for the year 2003 was communicated to the National Transportation Agency during hearings held January 10, 11 and 12, 2001, in Montréal.

Alternatives

Costs have been reduced where feasible and kept to the minimum, consistent with maintaining a safe and effective service.

Benefits and Costs

The tariff increase for the year 2003 will generate additional revenue estimated to be in the order of $1,634,000. This represents an increase in the pilotage charges of approximately $218 per trip for the year 2003 for a ship transiting the St. Lawrence River between the pilot boarding stations at Les Escoumins and Montréal, i.e. 262 nautical miles.

The tariff increase is necessary to meet anticipated costs for 2003. This initiative will ensure the continued efficiency of the pilotage service and the Authority's capability to operate on a self-sustaining financial basis that is both fair and reasonable.

Consultation

The Authority held meetings with the three main industry groups during May 2002 concerning the rate of increase for pilotage tariffs originally proposed for 2003 and 2004. The industry indicated to the Authority that it could not accept subsequent tariff increases and any increase in excess of the cost of living, which is approximately at 2.4 percent this year over last year, in view of substantial decreases in maritime transport activity.

However the Authority is required by the Pilotage Act to be financially self-sustaining. It is evident that a tariff increase limited to 2.4 percent will not achieve the legal requirement, bearing in mind that the last year in effect of the service contracts with the group of pilots provides for a 3 percent increase in their fees. Since the Authority faced an important accumulated debt when the self-sufficiency requirement was imposed by the Act, and bearing in mind the subsequent reimbursement of the loans, it is not possible for the Authority to maintain a cash flow thus requiring bank loans.

Compliance and Enforcement

Section 45 of the Pilotage Act provides the enforcement mechanism for these Regulations in that a Pilotage Authority can inform a customs officer at any port in Canada to withhold clearance from any ship for which pilotage charges are outstanding and unpaid.

Section 48 of the Pilotage Act provides for penalties if the Regulations are contravened. These include fines of up to $5,000.

Contact

Mr. Jean-Claude Michaud, Chief Executive Officer, Laurentian Pilotage Authority, 715, Victoria Square, 6th Floor, Montréal (Quebec) H2Y 2H7, (514) 283-6320 (Telephone), (514) 496-2409 (Facsimile).

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to subsection 34(1) (see footnote a)  of the Pilotage Act, that the Laurentian Pilotage Authority proposes to make, pursuant to subsection 33(1) of that Act, the annexed Regulations Amending the Laurentian Pilotage Tariff Regulations.

Interested persons who have reason to believe that any charge in the proposed Regulations is prejudicial to the public interest, including, without limiting the generality thereof, the public interest that is consistent with the national transportation policy set out in section 5 of the Canada Transportation Act (see footnote b) , may file a notice of objection setting out the grounds therefor with the Canadian Transportation Agency within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. The notice of objection should cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be sent to the Canadian Transportation Agency, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N9.

Persons making representations should identify any of those representations the disclosure of which should be refused under the Access to Information Act, in particular under sections 19 and 20 of that Act, and should indicate the reasons why and the period during which the representations should not be disclosed. They should also identify any representations for which there is consent to disclosure for the purposes of that Act.

JEAN-CLAUDE MICHAUD
Chief Executive Officer
Laurentian Pilotage Authority

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE LAURENTIAN PILOTAGE TARIFF REGULATIONS

AMENDMENTS

1. The heading "Pilotage Charges for the Years 2001 and 2002" before section 2 of the Laurentian Pilotage Tariff Regulations (see footnote 1)  is repealed.

2. The portion of subsection 2(1) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

2. (1) A pilotage charge payable to the Authority for a pilotage service set out in column 1 of Schedule 2 in the District set out in column 2 of that Schedule is calculated based on the information provided on the pilotage service form under subsection 7(1) and is equal to the sum of the following:

3. Schedules 2 and 3 to the Regulations are replaced by the following:

SCHEDULE 2 (definition "time factor" in section 1, and sections 2 and 9)
PILOTAGE CHARGES
Item	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Column 5	Column 6	Column 7	Column 8
	Pilotage Service	District	Basic Charge ($)	Charge per Unit ($)	Charge per Time Factor ($)	Charge per Hour or Part of an Hour ($)	Minimum Charge ($)	Maximum Charge ($)
1.	Trip	1	N/A	29.79	14.68	N/A	762.23	N/A
		2	N/A	18.86	10.84	N/A	630.31	N/A
2.	Movage	1, 1-1 or 2	342.95	11.29	N/A	N/A	762.23	N/A
3.	Anchorage during a trip or a movage	1, 1-1 or 2	265.19	2.85	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
4.	Docking of a ship at a wharf or pier at the end of a trip	1 or 2	202.96	2.10	N/A	N/A	N/A	394.65
5.	Request by a master, owner or agent of a ship for a pilot designated by the Corporation to perform a docking or undocking	2	342.95	7.75	N/A	N/A	630.31	N/A
6.	Detention of a pilot at a pilot boarding station or on board ship	1, 1-1 or 2	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.00 for first half hour, 79.10 for first hour, including the first half hour, and 79.10 for each subsequent hour	N/A	949.05 per 24-hour period
7.	Ship movements required for adjusting a ship's compasses	1, 1-1 or 2	342.95	11.29	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
8.	Trip or movage of a dead ship	1, 1-1 or 2	1.5 times the pilotage charges set out in items 1 to 7	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
9.	Cancellation of a request for pilotage services if the pilot reports for pilotage duty	1, 1-1 or 2	304.20	N/A	N/A	0.00 for the first hour, 158.19 for the second hour including the first hour, and 79.10 for each subsequent hour1	N/A	949.05 per 24-hour period
10.	A pilot is carried on a ship beyond the district for which the pilot is licenced	1, 1-1 or 2	N/A	N/A	N/A	79.10	N/A	949.05 per 24-hour period
11.	Except in the case of emergency, a master, owner or agent of a ship, after filing a notice required by section 8 or 9 of the Laurentian Pilotage Authority Regulations, makes a request that the movage or departure occur at a time before that set out in the notice	1, 1-1 or 2	1,770.28	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

¹ The number of chargeable hours of service is calculated from the later of the time for which the pilotage services are requested and the time the pilot reports for pilotage duty until the time of cancellation

4. The Regulations are amended by replacing the expression "Schedule 2 or 3" with the expression "Schedule 2" wherever it occurs in the following provisions:

(a) the definition "time factor" in section 1;
(b) subsection 2(2); and
(c) the portion of section 9 before paragraph (a).

COMING INTO FORCE

5. These Regulations come into force on January 1, 2003.

[27-1-o]

Footnote a 
S.C. 1998, c. 10, s. 150

Footnote b 
S.C. 1996, c. 10

Footnote 1 
SOR/2001-84

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