Public Accounts committee  It's a very good question. Madam Chair, I apologize. We're going to have to apply some discretion to our answer here. The reason for doing so is that the question is with respect to an incident that's currently under assessment and potentially investigation. If I may, I'm going

Public Accounts committee  There are two things on this. The Field incident was a terrible tragedy, and it pointed out and revealed a risk. We took immediate action and put a very clear and very strong rule in place. The second incident resulted in our providing additional rules that I think make absolut

Public Accounts committee  That's a very good question that brings some transparency to this commitment of time. To answer the member's question, I'll turn to Mr. DeJong to describe very briefly what we are committing to do this year versus next year.

Public Accounts committee  We will have significant steps taken later this year. For example, we're going to—

Public Accounts committee  Mike, I think 2023 is fair. Is that fair?

Public Accounts committee  I would say only that we recognize the need to move faster on this. We had some analytical homework to do to identify the best path forward, and we're consulting with leading organizations. We anticipate making significant progress, including consulting on this, over the next yea

Public Accounts committee  In some ways we have started the consultations already, but I'll turn it over to Mr. DeJong to elaborate.

Public Accounts committee  Yes, we'd be pleased to provide this information to the committee.

Public Accounts committee  There are several parts to the question from the honourable member. I don't want to overly interpret the Auditor General, but she's recognized the progress we have made and pointed out the significant gaps and things we have to do. On the question of the activities that lead t

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. My answer will be threefold. First, the rail tragedy in Field, British Columbia, is still under investigation by the RCMP. Immediately after the Field incident, there was a train with a crew nearby and with the emergency brakes on, and it started to

Public Accounts committee  To go back to my previous answer, there have been multiple risk assessments and multiple actions taken to strengthen the safety standard around key trains and key routes, including high-risk key trains like the ones you're describing. We're not just starting. There have been majo

Public Accounts committee  There are two parts. We've established the regulations and we've done audits to ensure compliance. We're using the data from that activity to improve effectiveness. There is a broader question, which is mapping the safety outcome. The safety management system is built on the pri

Public Accounts committee  There are two parts to that. The first is that trains have been rolling to Prince Rupert with flammable liquids for many years. There has been a systemic increase in standards around key trains, which are trains carrying dangerous goods. There's been a systemic increase in stan

Public Accounts committee  Sorry; it's actually the standards for flammable liquids on ERAPs. That was outstanding for years. The standard has now been established, and we're now in the process of communicating that and implementing it. I don't think we've communicated it out yet, but we're in the process

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question. Railway companies have more than one obligation in that regard. First, they must develop rail safety management system according to the 2015 rules. Second, they have an obligation to implement all plans included in their rail safety management system.