Bill C-49 (Historical)

Transportation Modernization Act

An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and other Acts respecting transportation and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts

This enactment amends the Canada Transportation Act in respect of air transportation and railway transportation.
With respect to air transportation, it amends the Canada Transportation Act to require the Canadian Transportation Agency to make regulations establishing a new air passenger rights regime and to authorize the Governor in Council to make regulations requiring air carriers and other persons providing services in relation to air transportation to report on different aspects of their performance with respect to passenger experience or quality of service. It amends the definition of Canadian in that Act in order to raise the threshold of voting interests in an air carrier that may be owned and controlled by non-Canadians while retaining its Canadian status, while also establishing specific limits related to such interests. It also amends that Act to create a new process for the review and authorization of arrangements involving two or more transportation undertakings providing air services to take into account considerations respecting competition and broader considerations respecting public interest.
With respect to railway transportation, it amends the Act to, among other things,
(a) provide that the Canadian Transportation Agency will offer information and informal dispute resolution services;
(b) expand the Governor in Council’s powers to make regulations requiring major railway companies to provide to the Minister of Transport and the Agency information relating to rates, service and performance;
(c) repeal provisions of the Act dealing with insolvent railway companies in order to allow the laws of general application respecting bankruptcy and insolvency to apply to those companies;
(d) clarify the factors that must be applied in determining whether railway companies are fulfilling their service obligations;
(e) shorten the period within which a level of service complaint is to be adjudicated by the Agency;
(f) enable shippers to obtain terms in their contracts dealing with amounts to be paid in relation to a failure to comply with conditions related to railway companies’ service obligations;
(g) require the Agency to set the interswitching rate annually;
(h) create a new remedy for shippers who have access to the lines of only one railway company at the point of origin or destination of the movement of traffic in circumstances where interswitching is not available;
(i) change the process for the transfer and discontinuance of railway lines to, among other things, require railway companies to make certain information available to the Minister and the public and establish a remedy for non-compliance with the process;
(j) change provisions respecting the maximum revenue entitlement for the movement of Western grain and require certain railway companies to provide to the Minister and the public information respecting the movement of grain; and
(k) change provisions respecting the final offer arbitration process by, among other things, increasing the maximum amount for the summary process to $2 million and by making a decision of an arbitrator applicable for a period requested by the shipper of up to two years.
It amends the CN Commercialization Act to increase the maximum proportion of voting shares of the Canadian National Railway Company that can be held by any one person to 25%.
It amends the Railway Safety Act to prohibit a railway company from operating railway equipment and a local railway company from operating railway equipment on a railway unless the equipment is fitted with the prescribed recording instruments and the company, in the prescribed manner and circumstances, records the prescribed information using those instruments, collects the information that it records and preserves the information that it collects. This enactment also specifies the circumstances in which the prescribed information that is recorded can be used and communicated by companies, the Minister of Transport and railway safety inspectors.
It amends the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act to allow the use or communication of an on-board recording, as defined in subsection 28(1) of that Act, if that use or communication is expressly authorized under the Aeronautics Act, the National Energy Board Act, the Railway Safety Act or the Canada Shipping Act, 2001.
It amends the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority Act to authorize the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to enter into agreements for the delivery of screening services on a cost-recovery basis.
It amends the Coasting Trade Act to enable repositioning of empty containers by ships registered in any register. These amendments are conditional on Bill C-30, introduced in the 1st session of the 42nd Parliament and entitled the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act, receiving royal assent and sections 91 to 94 of that Act coming into force.
It amends the Canada Marine Act to permit port authorities and their wholly-owned subsidiaries to receive loans and loan guarantees from the Canada Infrastructure Bank. These amendments are conditional on Bill C-44, introduced in the 1st session of the 42nd Parliament and entitled the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, receiving royal assent.
Finally, it makes related and consequential amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Competition Act, the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, the Air Canada Public Participation Act, the Budget Implementation Act, 2009 and the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

For the moment, then, what's conceived for the rail industry in Bill C-49 is different from what obtains...in the airline industry.

[Kathleen Fox]

First of all, we've been long-standing vocal about requiring recorders on board all modes of transportation to help us in our investigations, but we also believe firmly that those recordings can be very useful to operators in order to investigate incidents and accidents that we don't investigate and also for proactive safety management purposes—provided they remain protected, which they will, under our act, and provided the appropriate safeguards are embedded in regulations.

It's part of Bill C-49 because it's part of the overall requirement for voice and video recorders. It helps provide a greater safety benefit to the operators if they can have access to this information. In the long term, it remains to be seen whether that will be expanded to other modes. It's certainly something that the International Civil Aviation Organization is looking at for recorders on airplanes, about potentially expanding that use to operators.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

On the question of voice and video recording on trains—this is an item in Bill C-49—the government is proposing to treat the railway industry differently from the aviation industry. My understanding is that on planes, while you have recording devices, the information is made available to the Transportation Safety Board in the event they're investigating, but the information is not made available willy-nilly, if you will, to the companies.

In your view, is there a reason for treating rail differently from the aviation industry with respect to access to the recorded data that's granted to companies?

National Grain Week

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, our farmers have much of which to be proud: a tireless work ethic, an unwavering commitment to our rural communities, and a passion for the land passed on from generation to generation.

I invite Canadians across the country to join me in celebrating the inaugural National Grain Week. Through innovation, determination, and environmental stewardship, our Canadian farmers grow the highest-quality grain in the world.

To continue to be successful, our farmers must get their products to market, and they must have an efficient regulatory regime. We have much work to do, and time is of the essence. Amendments to Bill C-49 would bring much-needed accountability to our transportation system, preventing future crippling grain backlogs.

The trans-Pacific partnership provides access to lucrative new markets, ensuring long-term stability for Canadian grain growers. We must work together in the House to pass Bill C-49 as amended and ratify the TPP before the summer recess.

As Conservatives, we are committed to getting this done. In the spirit of National Grain Week, I ask everyone to join us.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Mr. Speaker, farmers and manufacturers employ millions of Canadians and contribute billions of dollars to our economy. Due to the Liberal government's weak response to the current rail transportation crisis and the many flaws in Bill C-49, our farmers and shippers will continue to suffer. This morning I met with a manufacturer who has already lost $40 million this year due to shipping issues.

When will the Minister of Transport stop ignoring the plight of our farmers, shippers, and manufacturers, and do his job?

Trans Mountain Expansion Project

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we are here today for one reason and one reason only, and that is we are in a crisis, a crisis of confidence. We have investors who, whether they are foreign or domestic, lack the confidence in Canada as a place to invest, as their confidence in the government to create an environment for them to invest in and protect their investment has gone sideways.

It has gone that way because if the Prime Minister's contradictory messages or comments, policies, and inaction on core projects. This has absolutely rocked the investor community. As a matter of fact, at the COFI conference which I was at just last week, as was the Minister of Transport, we heard very soundly from economists who stood on the stage and said that investor confidence in Canada is at an all-time low.

Investment is flowing out of Canada at record levels, levels that have not been seen in over 70 years. Why is that? As mentioned, it is due to legislation such as Bill C-69, Bill C-49, a tanker moratorium, and the Prime Minister killing energy east at the eleventh hour by introducing new rules. Let us not forget northern gateway, a project that was approved. It was a project that underwent rigorous environmental standards and testing, a project that had indigenous equity partners. As the Prime Minister and the government came to power, the rug was pulled out from underneath the project.

I remind this House that it was just over a year ago when the Prime Minister said that he was phasing out the oil sands. I will also remind my colleagues that one of the very first statements the Prime Minister made on the world stage after gaining power was that Canada will become known more for its resourcefulness than its resources. That is shocking.

On Trans Mountain, the reason we are here tonight, the Prime Minister has failed to deliver a clear action plan from the very beginning. Truthfully, I do not believe for a moment he ever wanted this project to go forward. He will stall while saying those words with his hand on his heart, that he and his cabinet are seized with this project and that it is their intention to have it go through. We have seen a few ministers today and over the last couple of weeks state that this project will go through, yet it has taken over a year for them to even come to the province of British Columbia, my beautiful province, to actually say those same strong words. Where have the 18 MPs from B.C. been? They have been silent on this issue.

I will go as far as saying that I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Prime Minister and his 18 Liberal MPs from the province of British Columbia for the situation we are currently in provincially. They failed to stand up for the Trans Mountain pipeline. That was a major issue in the provincial election last summer when the NDP and the Green Party campaigned that this project will never go through under their watch. The B.C. Liberals were fighting it out and doing their very best to try to win back our province. What we saw was essentially a deadlock. Then there was a coalition with the NDP and the Green Party. Premier Horgan might be in a little trouble because if he supports the pipeline, what will happen to his majority? He is going to have a bit of an issue in terms of how he can hang on to power.

Domestic and foreign investors looking at Canada and British Columbia as places to invest are comparing the ease of doing business and returns on capital that can be achieved here with those in other jurisdictions around the world.

We have to remember that investors have choices. What we do as a government or as a parliament, or what the Liberals do as government, can have a significant impact on investor confidence. That is what we are seeing currently. Under the current government, investors in Canada have been besieged by significant federal and provincial tax increases, which taken with the recent substantial tax reductions in the United States and the ever-increasing protectionist government, as well as the opportunities they are seeing south of the border, underscores that Canada's small, open trade-exposed economy is no longer competitive.

Economists are speaking out. Dave McKay, president and CEO of RBC, raised a concern about investment capital leaving Canada in real time, noting that a significant exodus of capital from Canada to the United States is well under way and that we should be worried.

These comments have been echoed by John Manley, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, who stated recently that real issues of competitiveness are absent from the federal government's thinking, noting that Canada is, “always in this difficult competition to attract investment and to retain investment — and it's not be taken lightly because investment can move quickly.”

We even have the Suncor president and CEO Steve Williams saying that his company, Canada's largest integrated oil firm, will not embark on new major projects in our country because of the burdensome regulations and uncompetitive tax rates.

Finally, late last year, the TransCanada Corporation, after spending over a billion dollars, cancelled its proposed $17-billion energy east pipeline project out of frustration with the government and the project approval process.

These and other examples across the country demonstrate that policy-makers have a definite impact on our economy. That is what we are seeing with Justin Trudeau's failure to get this job done and creating burdensome regulations on investors. We must always remember that investors have choices.

I want to touch on the indigenous partners aspect, because this has been brought up time and time again. I will relate it to a story in my own riding, the Mount Polley disaster, which I have brought up before. There are no two ways about it, it was a disaster. However, the proponent, the company, and our indigenous first nations partners within our riding, as well as our communities, banded together and got the job done with respect to mitigating the disaster.

We had protesters out there day in and day out. When a card check was done on those people, it was shocking to find that most of the protesters were not from our region, and some of them were not even from Canada. However, they were there making sure that Canadian businesses had every roadblock put in front of them. There is a lot to be said in the media about how our indigenous partners and indigenous communities are tired of being pawns for environmental groups, of being trucked out in the media and being used as pawns in this. Our indigenous communities only want an opportunity to be self-sufficient and to be partners in these programs. In the Trans Mountain pipeline, over 43 indigenous communities are equity partners in this project.

In the seconds that I have left, I want to read this. It states, “A Conference Board of Canada report has determined the combined government revenue impact for construction in the first 20 years of expanded operations is $46.7 billion, including federal and provincial taxes...for public services such as health care and education.”

It also notes that B.C. alone would receive $5.7 billion, Alberta would receive $19.4 billion, and the rest of Canada would share $21.6 billion because of this project.

If there is a project that has national interest, this is the one. Unfortunately, through delay tactics and confusing comments, the Prime Minister has shaken investor confidence, and that is unacceptable.

Rail Transportation

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have said again and again that Bill C-49 will resolve the rail backlog. They refuse to divide Bill C-49. They refuse to use an order in council to force the railway companies to move our farmers' grain to market.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food finally unveiled the truth in Winnipeg recently, saying that “if Bill C-49 passes, it won't solve the issue right away”.

How will he respond to the amendments to Bill C-49? Will it be another refusal to act for farmers?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, I have written to both railways to get grain moving faster, and considerable progress has been made since that time. We will continue to work on this.

As for the amendments proposed in the Senate regarding Bill C-49, we received all of them. We are studying them carefully and will share our position with the House very soon, I hope. I hope to have the Conservatives' support so that we can get this legislation through as soon as possible.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is national grain week, and many farmers from western Canada will be in Ottawa this week. The grain transportation crisis will definitely be on the agenda. By failing to take action, the Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food have cost farmers and the Canadian economy billions of dollars. Waiting for crises to resolve themselves has become the trademark of the Liberal government. The Prime Minister has tarnished Canada's reputation when it comes to grain exports.

Can the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food inform the members of the House of the government's intentions regarding the proposed amendments to Bill C-49?

Air Transportation

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the stranded Air Transat passengers have not forgotten that the minister promised them a speedy resolution by adopting a passenger bill of rights. It has been a year since the incident and two and a half years since this government was elected, but there is still nothing, and the bill could double the amount of time that passengers have to wait on the tarmac before they get assistance. The Liberal government obviously does not have the guts to deal with the airlines.

Could the minister tell us whether he is going to show some courage and eliminate the provision doubling the tarmac time limit in his Bill C-49?

Public Services and Procurement

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order because in a moment I will be seeking unanimous consent for a motion that will address the ongoing grain crisis in the Prairies. On Monday, the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food heard from witness after witness who said the situation is decidedly unsatisfactory.

That is why I am very hopeful that, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following urgent motion that, in light of the acute crisis within the grain transport industry, a message be sent to the Senate calling on their honours to divide Bill C-49, an act to amend the Canada Transportation Act and other acts respecting transportation and to make related and consequential amendments to other acts, into two bills in order to create a new bill comprised of clauses 2 to 13 and clauses 20 to 59, as well as related transitory, consequential, and coming-into-force provisions respecting transportation of grain; and that the House implore their honours to pass the new bill at the earliest opportunity.

Rail Transportation

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we are taking measures to accelerate the flow of grain for our western farmers to get it to world markets. At the same time, I have been urging the other chamber to move as quickly as possible in the adoption of Bill C-49.

Unlike the Harper government, which had 10 years to try to modernize the movement of freight rail and did not do anything except come up with a band-aid bill, we are actually putting in place something that will allow us to deal with the movement of freight rail, including grain, efficiently once that bill is passed.

[Ruth Ellen Brosseau, NDP, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, almost a year ago, the Liberals refused to listen to the NDP and remove the section on grain transportation from their omnibus transportation bill. As a result, the bill is still being studied in the Senate and our grain producers are still being held hostage by CN and CP. It is time for the Senate to fix the Liberal government's botched job and remove the section on grain transportation from Bill C-49.

Will the government commit to supporting our motion today formally asking the Senate to expedite the passage of these provisions, and help the crisis facing grain farmers out west?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Well, to some extent it's speculative, but there's no question that one of the major accomplishments of Bill C-49 is that it will provide more options to shippers—who, in some cases, are in the situation of being located where there's only a single railway—and ultimately to the farmers who supply them, because they will have reciprocal penalties in place.

There's a new definition of “adequate and suitable service”, and there are a number of other measures. You have seen it yourself, because you received the testimony during 30 hours in September from a whole bunch of people who provided you with input.

The feedback I've received from many of them is that this was a bill that tried to achieve that balance in terms of not only addressing long-standing shipper grievances but also ensuring that we still had the capability for our railways to be able to continue as businesses. They need to invest in new infrastructure. They need to continue to provide service for the movement of all those goods across the country. I think we ended up with a bill coming out of this committee that was a really well-balanced bill, and I hope that will be the case when it comes out of the Senate.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Should you find yourself in Nova Scotia again this summer, I'll take you down to the wharf. Perhaps you can sample a bite yourself.

There's another issue I wanted to tackle. On Bill C-49, you're right: we did come back early and as a committee found quite a bit of common ground on a number of issues. One of the issues we tackled was the air passenger bill of rights. In my mind, we landed on a bill that is going to enhance the passenger experience without compromising the efficiency of the transportation sector.

One of the great frustrations I have, being new to politics, is that sometimes when we get outside of the parliamentary bubble, we're dealing in a post-fact world. I've seen some news stories floating around suggesting that the bill is actually going to double the amount of time that passengers have to wait on the tarmac. The understanding I had when our committee dealt with this was that some airlines have a voluntary program to ensure that passengers don't wait beyond 90 minutes, but that there are many ways for airlines to get out of that voluntary obligation, so to speak.

Can you commit to us that the intention and the effect of this legislation will not double the amount of time that passengers are going to be waiting on the tarmac, but ensure they have a remedy when they are there for an unacceptable period of time?