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House Bill

Bill C-344

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 15, 2023
An Act to amend the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act (national strategy respecting abandoned vessels)
  • Bill C-344 is a proposed law that would change the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act in Canada to create a national strategy to deal with abandoned vessels. The strategy would include things like identifying the owners of abandoned boats, evaluating fees to get rid of them, creating disposal areas for these boats, and finding better ways to recycle or dispose of them without hurting the environment. The strategy would also assess how much money and resources are needed to prevent and respond to abandoned vessels and would involve cooperation with Indigenous communities and provincial governments. The Minister responsible would have to report on the progress of the strategy annually and share it online.
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Context: House Hansard - 276 - Feb/6/24
Ms. Lisa Marie Barron (Nanaimo—Ladysmith, NDP)
Mr. Speaker, my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith on Vancouver Island is surrounded by marine-sensitive ecosystems, including ancient clam beds, southern resident killer whales and wild Pacific salmon. As waters continue to warm, our oceans and coastal communities need all the help they can get. Despite this, consecutive Conservative and Liberal governments have left derelict and abandoned vessels to sink, polluting oil, fuel, plastics and more into our waters. The impacts are detrimental to food security, wildlife, public safety, navigation and local economies. Still, these vessel graveyards are increasing at a rapid pace. We know that local organizations, first nations and more are eager to do the work; they just need a federal partner. It is time that we see the government move forward with a real plan to prevent this, remove these vessels from our waters and support my bill, Bill C-344, to finally clean up this mess.
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Context: House Hansard - 214 - Jun/15/23
Ms. Lisa Marie Barron (Nanaimo—Ladysmith, NDP)
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-344, an act to amend the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act, national strategy respecting abandoned vessels. She said: Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to stand today to table my bill, an act to amend the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act, national strategy respecting abandoned vessels. I would like to thank my NDP colleague, the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, for seconding it. Abandoned vessels in Canadian waters have been left to sink, polluting our oceans, harming wildlife and threatening food security. Canadians who live on our coasts know all too well the harms, seeing what locals call “vessel graveyards” lining the coasts. It is time that something is done about it. This bill includes the development and implementation of a much-needed strategy to address the ever-increasing number of vessels being abandoned along the west coast of Canada, working in partnership with indigenous governing bodies and the province. The measures include, among others, developing a system to promptly and effectively identify the owners of vessels, developing a mooring plan for vessels and developing innovative recycling initiatives for wrecked vessels and their components. Derelict and abandoned vessels cannot be allowed to continue to threaten our coasts. Our oceans, marine ecosystems and coastal communities deserve protecting.
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