Thanks for that question. It cuts to the heart of our mandate.
Mr. Chair, I would like to say that it's great to see the honourable member. I think it was a week ago in the other committee that we were exchanging views.
I think you ask a really important question. In the work of Transport Canada, we have a safety mandate, an environmental mandate, and an economic mandate. Fundamentally, the safety mandate comes first. It comes first in the priorities in the work of the department. It comes first in the articulation of priorities that our minister makes, both in public and through his direction to departmental officials.
On the child restraint system, there is a comment in the Auditor General's report about the impact on trade, and to be honest, I wasn't sure about the basis for that. It clearly was communicated by somebody in the department to the Auditor General. What I can tell you is that in the safety standards for vehicles, there is a strategic priority in harmonizing our safety standards with the U.S. However, the child restraint system is one area where we don't harmonize with the U.S. and where we have taken a different standard. We have articulated a different maximum weight for a child in the child restraint system, and the reason we have done so is that, in our estimation, there is greater effective safety in having children who weigh more than 65 pounds, or 30 kilograms, to be out of a child safety seat and in a booster seat using the three-point seatbelt in the car.
As for issue of the performance rating for the anchor that Canada has, it is the highest type of performance rating for anchors in the world. We could certainly change it, but our view is that changing the anchor and then putting heavier children in child restraint systems with the anchor is not conducive to safety. A better safety result is achieved by getting them in the booster seat with the three-point seatbelt. We do work on this issue in the department, and I invite my colleagues to correct me if I'm wrong, but we and many partners in the country try to publicize this, but the installation of child safety seats has to be done correctly. There are different manufacturers with different requirements, which change by weight, and there is an effective safety issue with having those child seats put in properly. For the larger children, you avoid that risk by getting them in a booster seat and the three-point seatbelt.