Bill C-52 (Historical)

Safe and Accountable Rail Act

An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and the Railway Safety Act

This enactment amends the Canada Transportation Act to strengthen the liability and compensation regime for federally regulated railway companies by establishing minimum insurance levels for railway companies and a supplementary, shipper-financed compensation fund to cover damages resulting from railway accidents involving the transportation of certain dangerous goods.
Among other things, the amendments
(a) establish minimum insurance levels for freight railway operations based on the type and volume of goods that are transported;
(b) require the holder of a certificate of fitness to maintain the liability insurance coverage required by that Act, and to notify the Canadian Transportation Agency without delay if its insurance coverage is affected;
(c) establish that a railway company is liable, without proof of fault or negligence, subject to certain defences, for losses, damages, costs and expenses resulting from a railway accident involving crude oil or other designated goods, up to the level of the company’s minimum liability insurance coverage; and
(d) establish a compensation fund in the Accounts of Canada, financed by levies on shippers, to cover the losses, damages, costs and expenses resulting from a railway accident involving crude oil or other designated goods that exceed the minimum liability insurance coverage.
The enactment also amends the Railway Safety Act to, among other things,
(a) allow a province or municipality that incurs costs in responding to a fire that it is of the opinion was the result of a railway company’s railway operations to apply to the Canada Transportation Agency to have those costs reimbursed by the railway company;
(b) clarify the Governor in Council’s power to make regulations respecting the restriction and prevention of access to land on which a line of railway is situated, including by means of fences or signs on that land or on land adjoining it;
(c) authorize a railway safety inspector who is satisfied that there is an immediate threat to the safety or security of railway operations to order a person or company to take any measure that the inspector specifies to mitigate the threat;
(d) authorize the Minister to require, by order, a company, road authority or municipality to follow the procedures or take the corrective measures that the Minister specifies if the Minister considers it necessary in the interests of safe railway operations;
(e) provide the Governor in Council with a regulation-making power regarding the submission of information that is relevant to the safety of railway operations by any person, other than the Minister to any person;
(f) authorize the Minister to order a company that is implementing its safety management system in a manner that risks compromising railway safety to take the necessary corrective measures; and
(g) declare that certain regulations and orders that were made under the Railway Act are deemed to have had effect from the day on which they were made under that Act and that those regulations and orders continue to have effect from that day as if they were made under the Railway Safety Act.

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Well, it doesn't presume. It says if it passes, because right now we're wondering whether or not Bill C-52 from the government is going to become law.

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

In Bill C-52, which we haven't debated yet, there are provisions that actually deal with your bill. They actually repeal what your bill is bringing forward. I'll give you the example of subclause 39(1). It states:

39. (1) Subsections (2) to (7) apply if Bill C-627, introduced in the 2nd session of the 41st Parliament

Then it states:

If subsection 25(1) of this Act comes into force before section 2 of the other Act, then

(a) that section 2 is deemed never to have come into force and is repealed;

So we're talking about your section.

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Have you seen or have you read Bill C-52, which was brought forth by the government regarding rail safety?

Rail Transportation

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to talk about the safe and accountable rail act, which our government introduced last week. I certainly do hope that the opposition members will support it full-throated because of the great things it would do. For example, it would make sure that polluters do pay in the case of an untimely accident with respect to rail.

Specifically, it is important to note that it is a very comprehensive regime, with $1 billion in liability insurance backed up by a $250-million compensation fund paid by shippers and all backstopped by being able to go out and charge railroads, should it be in excess of that.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much to the committee for the invitation to be here today. As you already said, I'm joined by the deputy minister, Louis Lévesque. Also joining me are André Lapointe, the assistant deputy minister of corporate services and the chief financial officer; and Laureen Kinney, the assistant deputy minister for safety and security.

We are very pleased to be here today to address the supplementary estimates (C) for 2014-15, and our main estimates for 2015-16. I'd also like to take the opportunity to update the committee on various matters relating to transportation and, of course, the work of Transport Canada.

Obviously, the matter I consider to be the priority of the government when it comes to transportation is transportation safety. That matter is our ongoing effort to strengthen safety across all modes of transportation. The tragic accident that happened at Lac-Mégantic demonstrated very clearly why safety in preventing accidents has to remain our government's transportation priority. On February 20 of this year, I introduced legislation that, if passed, will make the rail industry and crude oil shippers even more accountable to Canadians. Bill C-52, the new safe and accountable rail act, proposes amendments to the Canada Transportation Act and the Railway Safety Act.

One of the things to do is to develop a new liability and compensation regime for federally regulated railways. This includes minimum insurance requirements, a compensation fund financed by levies on crude oil shippers, increased information-sharing provisions, and stronger oversight powers for the minister and Transport Canada.

I also announced the new railway safety management system regulations, 2015, which will require companies to develop and implement a formal framework that integrates safety into their daily operations.

In marine transportation, we continue to develop our world-class tanker safety system. Under this system we're implementing a comprehensive list of measures that will meet our ongoing commitments to responsibly transport our natural resources and to help protect our marine environment. We'll do this by enhancing our ability to prevent ship-source spills from happening in the first place, and clean them up quickly if they do occur and, of course, ensure that polluters pay.

To give you an example, last fall I announced that we'd provide up to $20 million over three years to Ocean Networks Canada for its smart ocean initiative, which supports the world-class tanker safety system. The funding will allow ONC to transform the oceanographic data it collects into navigational safety information that will help vessel operators and others avoid navigational hazards and prevent marine accidents.

In air transportation as well, safety is our priority. That's why last year Transport Canada took part in the International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO, task force on the risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones. The work that task force carried out in 2014 is truly helping us better understand and address the risks that civilian aircraft face around the world. We also recently took part in ICAO's second high-level safety conference in Montreal, where Transport Canada presented working papers on the regulation of unmanned air vehicles, UAVs or drones, as they're often called. These papers complement the new safety guidelines for UAVs that I announced last fall, as well as a safety awareness campaign to help UAV users, both recreational and commercial, to understand the rules of the sky and always consider safety.

Now, while addressing safety, I would like to provide the committee with an update on our actions relating to the recent tank car derailment in northern Ontario. Transport Canada has inspectors and resources on site. Local first responders are there and are supported by CANUTEC, our 24-hour emergency response centre, whose scientists provide real-time information concerning any dangerous goods being transported. We also put into place and into play our national aerial surveillance team. They're flying over the scene, or they have flown over the scene, to assist the response to the derailment, and we continue to assist the Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into this incident.

Stepping back from what happened this week, our government has taken a number of actions already to address rail safety in the transportation of dangerous goods. We continue to train and hire inspectors. They carry out more frequent audits. We have removed the least crash-resistant DOT-111 tank cars from service. We require that DOT-111 tank cars that don't meet the new standards that we published this year be phased out within three years.

Also, we require emergency response assistance plans for trains transporting crude oil, gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and ethanol. We have developed regulations as well to update tank cars to a new model that requires thicker steel, half head-shield protection, and top-fitting production. Finally, we're working with the United States to develop a new standard of tank car used to transport flammable liquids, and we're expediting this work to harmonize tank car standards in all of North America.

All that being said, we are concerned with the number of derailments that have taken place in this area. We don't know what caused this derailment yet, but we expect that the company will fully cooperate with the Transportation Safety Board in its investigation.

At this point in my speech, Mr. Chair, I would make a request to the committee, if I may. I would like to ask that the committee consider calling CN to appear with regard to the recent derailments in Gogama, Ontario.

Mr. Chair, we continue to work to support Canada's economy. Last March, to address a backlog of grain on the Prairies and get grain moving faster in the short term, we required CN and CP to increase their capacity and carry minimum volumes of grain. Last November our government extended this grain volume requirement for railways until March 28 of this year, so CN and CP have to move minimum volumes of grain, subject to demand and corridor capacity.

We took these measures to support grain transportation and to help maintain the confidence of international customers in Canada as a reliable source of grain. Transport Canada reviews weekly reports on grain volumes that CN and CP submit to ensure that the railways are meeting their requirement.

Our government believes that measures such as these are necessary to help grain shippers move products to market and to maintain Canada's reputation as a world-class agricultural commodity supplier. Given that we are the world's fifth-largest exporter of grain, that reputation is important.

To support the efficient and strong trade that we have with the United States, we are continuing to advance the Detroit River international crossing. Last month I was pleased to confirm that, following significant discussions with both the United States and Michigan governments, Canada agreed to an arrangement regarding U.S. port of entry to ensure that the project proceeds without delay.

Under the terms of this deal, a public-private partnership will help design, finance, construct, operate, and maintain all components of the crossing, including the U.S. inspection plaza. The cost of the U.S. port of entry will be repaid from future toll revenues, and not by Canadian taxpayers. It's an arrangement that is good for Canada, because it allows us to move forward on the project on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.

What we have achieved with the Detroit River international crossing is a really good example of the kinds of initiatives this government has pursued through our gateways and corridors program. That program was put in place to strengthen our transportation system and our infrastructure to make sure that we're supporting trade, not only here on our continent but with markets around the world as well. The Asia-Pacific gateway corridor initiative has seen an investment by us of about $1.4 billion. By connecting workers with jobs and products with markets, investments like these help our economy remain strong and competitive.

I close, Mr. Chair, by reminding the committee that last June we launched a comprehensive review of the Canada Transportation Act. It's being led by the Hon. David Emerson, and it really is an opportunity to review transportation policy in Canada to see how we can best support growth and how we can increase our domestic competitiveness and our international competitiveness as well.

It has been 14 years since we reviewed transportation policy in this country, and we need to know that we have modern measures for modern times. I'm sure that this review, which is at arm's length, will produce solid recommendations to help map out transportation plans for the future, and I look forward to input the members of the committee may want to make to the review as it continues to advance. These initiatives and the others demonstrate our actions to keep transportation in Canada safe, secure, efficient, and environmentally responsible.

I would conclude on a very personal note by saying thank you so much to the committee and by expressing my gratitude to you for your hard work and your dedication to these transportation files. I look forward to continued input throughout this end of Parliament. I would say that it has been since July of 2013 that we commenced on this road to making sure that modes of transport are safer in this country. I think we have accomplished a lot together, and I know we'll accomplish more.

That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chair. I'm happy to take any questions you may have, and if I don't have the specific answer, I will be asking my officials to help out, to make sure we get the right information.

Impaired Driving

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I sadly present this petition to inform the House that Bryan McCron, a 49-year-old single dad, was tragically killed by a drunk driver. As he lay dying along the side of the freeway with his son holding him, the drunk driver came over and started beating up on both of them.

Families for Justice is a group of Canadians who have also lost loved ones to impaired drivers. They believe that Canada's impaired driving laws are much too lenient. They want the crime to be called vehicular homicide, which is in Bill C-52, and they also want the government to introduce legislation that would require mandatory sentencing for those who have killed somebody while driving drunk.

Safe and Accountable Rail Act

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Minister of Transport]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-52, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and the Railway Safety Act.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)