
Nowadays, marine shipping industry is more like a critical but invisible lifeline to support Canadians’ daily life. The low-cost and efficient maritime shipping enables enormous economic development while bringing in unavoidable environmental pollution, ecological and social disruption, and other risks to coastal and marine areas.
This August, various participants gathered at Dalhousie University for a workshop entitled “Shipping Risk Mitigation Research and Practice in Canada: Considering Area-Based Management Approaches,” to discuss future policy directions and models for managing marine traffic. This workshop provided an opportunity for participants from government, industry, academia, non-profit organizations, and Indigenous communities to share their experiences and thoughts regarding shipping governance.
The workshop primarily focused on exploring Canada’s existing area-based management for shipping. Obviously, marine navigation is a shared mandates among different government departments and agencies. Shipping governance requires interdepartmental efforts and collaboration. Representatives from Transport Canada and Canadian Coast Guard demonstrated diverse measures that have been applied for vessel traffic management, including traffic separation schemes, emission control areas, speed limit, and seasonal slowdown zones. Fisheries and Oceans Canada also introduced their progress in establishing national Marine Spatial Planning framework and explained that minimum standards for marine activities, including shipping, will be introduced in Marine Protected Areas. In particular, participants highlighted the rapidly changing context of maritime governance, noting that government policies and approaches should also change accordingly.
Therefore, participants moved on to a general discussion of policy directions for future governance measures for shipping. This inclusive discussion emphasized the significance of developing a government-to-government network, using modern technology and tools, and encouraging industry participation.
The discussion was even elevated when participants shared their reflections about diverse values in shipping risk governance and the interface between Indigenous rights and shipping. Most risk models for assessing and mitigating shipping risks are evidence-based and quantitative. But with the development of risk governance theories, more and more risk models start to take qualitative data, values, and perspectives into consideration. Values are particularly important as, in Canada, shipping governance is gradually shifting towards an integrated regime in which multiple interests, especially Indigenous perspectives will be considered. Eventually, shipping governance will be guided by principles such as “two-eyed seeing,” which can learn both from science and Indigenous ways of knowing.
It is acknowledged that, Indigenous Peoples’ role as decision-makers in shipping governance has yet to be clearly defined in Canada’s existing institutional framework and regime. Therefore, a critical question raised by participants is how to ensure that authority for shipping governance will be delegated appropriately to Indigenous communities. First Nations from the Pacific North coast have a long history of co-governance. They proposed a tripartite framework and developed a reconciliation framework to enable a partnership among federal departments (e.g., Transport Canada), the Province of British Columbia and First Nations.
To build this partnership, there is a need to maintain the trust relationship on an institutional level. A written protocol or agreement is suggested by Chief Russ Jones (Council of Haida Nation) as a practical way to ensure that federal departments (i.e., Transport Canada) will continue to fulfill their commitment in partner with Indigenous peoples in managing marine traffic. Furthermore, it is critical for Canada to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, especially for rights that related to Indigenous decision-making (Article 18), traditional lands (Article 25) and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) principle.
Looking ahead, Canada’s shipping governance not only relies on effective collaboration among government departments and industry partners, but also requires rights holder involvement and knowledge co-production. While there is still a long way to go, fortunately, some successful models to facilitate co-management of shipping between government, Indigenous Peoples and industry have been created. Other regions across Canada can possibly learn from this model, explore and ultimately build an integrated and holistic framework for shipping.
Photo by Ruth Troughton on Unsplash