As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government. Recommendations related to this study are listed below.

Recommendation 1

That the Department of Fisheries and Oceans implement a marine debris monitoring and management plan that adequately addresses all forms of marine debris impacting coastlines.

Recommendation 2

That the Government of Canada invest in research and monitoring to understand the impacts of polystyrene and other plastics entering our oceans and improve how these products are removed to prevent ecological harms.

Recommendation 3

That the Government of Canada take a leading role to encourage the United Nations Environment Programme and international partners to ban the use of expanded polystyrene foam in packaging for marine transport.

Recommendation 4

That, in collaboration with major shipping nations, the Government of Canada work with the International Maritime Organization to develop standards and requirements for locating devices to be incorporated in shipping containers, and that the Canadian Coast Guard, in consultation with Transport Canada, consider the feasibility of installing location and tracking devices, e.g., transponders, on shipping containers to assist in locating lost and sunken containers.

Recommendation 5

That, in collaboration with major shipping nations, the Government of Canada work with the International Maritime Organization to investigate new container ship rules, e.g., the Rotterdam rules or others, that consider the volume and risk of modern container traffic.

Recommendation 6

That the Canadian Coast Guard advocate for the expansion of improved cell phone and broadband internet coverage to Canada’s coastal communities.

Recommendation 7

That the Government of Canada improve public accountability for marine spill incidents by communicating the progress of efforts in the wake of the spill with the public.

Recommendation 8

That, in collaboration with major shipping nations, the Government of Canada work with the International Maritime Organization to require ships’ manifests to more accurately identify goods being carried and to require them to be made available to the port authority and joint spill response task force in advance of entry to the port. Spill response task forces would be established for each port and would include federal, provincial and territorial agencies and involved volunteers from coastal communities.

Recommendation 9

That the Government of Canada immediately review its emergency salvage tug capacity along all coasts to ensure that salvage tug capacity is consistent with the size and volume of vessels travelling to our ports, and establish long-term arrangements for marine emergency towing.

Recommendation 10

That the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans consult the Canadian Coast Guard and other ministries on options to improve marine firefighting capabilities such as were required to deal with the ZIM Kingston.

Recommendation 11

That the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans write a letter to the Minister of Transport, the Minister of the Environment and to provincial and territorial counterparts to explore opportunities to develop a list of pre-qualified salvage contractors from which ship owners must choose to respond to shoreline debris and lost-cargo cleanup of Canada’s coastal and inland waterways.

Recommendation 12

That to be pre-qualified to undertake clean-up activities, a salvage operator must have demonstrated capacity or skill and performance to work in partnership with Indigenous and coastal communities who possess the local terrain knowledge and can provide critical advice and operational support.

Recommendation 13

That the Government of Canada review the salvage capacity on the West Coast and Canada’s other coasts to address the current lack of major vessel salvage operations capability and promote domestic capacity, and consult with U.S. federal counterparts on methods and equipment to retrieve sunken containers.

Recommendation 14

That, to encourage industry involvement in the development of regional salvage capacity, the federal government investigate global best practices and develop standards to ensure that shipping companies travelling through Canadians waters have established arrangements with salvage companies.

Recommendation 15

That the Government of Canada expand Canada’s marine oil spill preparedness and response regime to include responses to hazardous and noxious material incidents from major vessels.

Recommendation 16

That the Government of Canada require hazardous and noxious substances handling facilities of prescribed classes (to be determined through consultation with industry) to develop hazardous and noxious substances response plans to ensure adequate response to pollution incidents that could occur during the handling of hazardous and noxious substances between a vessel and a facility.

Recommendation 17

That the Canadian Coast Guard ensure it has the flexibility to quickly contract with appropriate technical experts and responders in the event a polluter is unknown, unwilling, or unable to respond to a hazardous and noxious substances release.

Recommendation 18

That the Canadian Coast Guard ensure that its officials have the appropriate training to develop new expertise and competencies required to carry out its federal monitoring officer and on‑scene commander functions through a hazardous and noxious substance response program.

Recommendation 19

That the Canadian Coast Guard develop and maintain a national exercise plan to regularly validate both the national contingency plan for hazardous and noxious substances and region‑specific planning and readiness for hazardous and noxious substances.

Recommendation 20

That the Government of Canada take a leading role to encourage the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Maritime Organization, to review and update the rules relating to the marine transport of hazardous chemicals and in particular, those chemicals that are reactive with water and prone to combustion.

Recommendation 21

That the Canadian Coast Guard consult with stakeholders, including Indigenous coastal communities, in a review of its emergency response training for emergency response and shoreline cleanup personnel in coastal communities to ensure the safe and proper handling and disposal of debris and the provision of necessary equipment and supplies.

Recommendation 22

That the Government of Canada work in collaboration with Indigenous communities to review their spill response capacity in their territories to ensure they can be active partners in clean-up efforts.

Recommendation 23

That Fisheries and Oceans Canada and other relevant departments review how they communicate the risk of spills to the public to ensure that people without training are not at risk after a spill occurs.

Recommendation 24

That the Government of Canada review the Canadian Coast Guard’s drift modelling capabilities, which are essential to effective responses to marine spills.

Recommendation 25

That the Canadian Coast Guard consult with current and potential partners on a strategy to create a joint spill response task force that adds clean-up capacity to supplement, where necessary, the capabilities of volunteer groups and involves the Unified Command response partnership in the oversight of the clean-up effort.

Recommendation 26

That the Government of Canada establish and fund a joint spill response task force composed of federal, provincial, territorial and Indigenous governing bodies, commercial fisheries organizations, and non‑governmental organization representatives and task it to recruit, regularly train, and equip a workforce capable of responding to spills in the regions most likely to be impacted, which can be deployed in the immediate wake of a spill occurring.

Recommendation 27

That the Government of Canada assign a joint spill response task force to create the geographic response plans required to respond effectively to cargo container spills on all coastlines, including clear objectives and timeline standards for cargo container spill responses.

Recommendation 28

That a joint spill response task force be composed of federal, provincial, territorial and Indigenous representatives and be tasked to develop the human and social capital infrastructure required to respond to cargo container spills in a timely manner.

Recommendation 29

That the federal government examine alternative polluter-pays and/or industry-pays mechanisms that would go beyond the current statutory limitation of three or six years and would ensure that sufficient funds are available in a timely manner to respond to immediate and long-term environmental damage caused by marine cargo container spills.