Transport committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Railway Association of Canada is the voice of Canadian railways. We represent passenger railways—whether they are intercity like VIA or Tshiuetin, commuter such as Metrolinx or Exo, or tourism railways like Rocky Mountaineer and Train de Charlevoix. We also represent Class one railways like CN and CPKC and shortlines such as SRY in B.C., and QNS&L; in Quebec and Labrador.

Transport committee  I'll mention that there is no governing body in North America that has approved automatic parking brakes. We're not aware of any regulatory body that has approved automatic parking brakes. As Mr. Cato said, it's still in the testing stage. The tests have proven it's unreliable to have automatic parking brakes installed on the locomotives so far.

Transport committee  Just to be clear, are you talking about rail police and its contribution to governance under Bill C-33?

Transport committee  I'm going to ask my colleagues to answer this question, because they're in charge of police operations. Perhaps Mr. Harvey could answer the question.

Transport committee  Definitely. We signed a voluntary agreement with Transport Canada under which we would report our GHG emission figures to them each year. There has been a reduction in these gases for a number of decades now. Indeed, it has become increasingly clear that it is better to transport goods by train than by truck.

Transport committee  We would have to get back to you on that, Ms. Koutrakis.

Transport committee  The only thing I'll add is that the SMS audit is an opportunity for continuous improvement. It's an opportunity for continuous improvement through the audit to the inspection reports that are put forward by Transport Canada, and also the railway companies' doing regular check-ins and making sure that their safety management systems are robust and are meeting the needs of their employees and its customers.

Transport committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee. Safety is job one for every railway and every railroader. Canadian railways are the safest in North America, among the safest in the world and are consistently getting safer. In 2022, the average Canadian class 1 train accident rate was approximately 40% lower than the average U.S. class 1 accident rate.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee. Former member of the CTA and Liberal candidate in Manitoba Mary-Jane Bennett said that interswitching was inefficient—that it wouldn’t correct problems with the supply chain, but amplify them. Each switch adds to transit time.

Transport committee  I will just echo what Mr. Dagenais said. The railway sector is finding it more and more difficult to attract people to come into the railway sector because it is a 24-7 environment. It can be a very harsh environment, but it can also be very rewarding. The railways provide a very rewarding career opportunity, so I think what we need to do as an industry, which we have started doing, is to explain and promote the benefits of working in the railway sector so that people understand what it really means and the opportunities they would have to build a successful career.

Transport committee  You have the microphone, David. I'll follow you with pleasure.

Transport committee  Thank you, Mr. Rogers, for the question. I would agree with David. In fact, the rail blockades occurred prior to COVID, and we saw the resulting effects of the blockades for weeks on end. We have learned some great lessons from COVID, and there can be lessons that will help improve the supply chain going forward.

Transport committee  I agree with your statement. We have to act with a sense of urgency.

Transport committee  I'll jump right in. My answer to that would be that the sense of urgency to get shovels into the ground is only going to increase. So if there are delays, we have to address those delays. If there's regulatory holdback on certain projects, we need to be better, because extreme weather conditions will continue to be a major challenge and we have to respond more quickly.

Transport committee  I'll be quick. I'll just say that the NTCF has proven over the years to be very beneficial to the supply chain and to the railways. If there's a possibility or opportunity to dedicate more of the view to the entire supply chain network, we would be supportive of that. We're only as strong as our weakest link in the supply chain, and the supply chain needs to be robust.