Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I thank the entire team. It's always a pleasure to be among my friends here at the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. It's always nice to see representatives from Transport Canada as well. So thank you very much for the invitation.
Madam Auditor General, I will start with you, please.
We had the pleasure of having a bit of a conversation during the transport committee meeting. I wanted to highlight two things today. The first is on the main theme of our conversation last time, which was safety.
At the transport committee, Madam Auditor General, I asked you, “ From your findings, Auditor General, are you concerned for the safety of Canadians based upon the actions that have not been taken by Transport Canada?”
From the transcripts in front of me, Madam Auditor General, I can see that you responded:
Every mode of transportation has its inherent issues, so I guess, overall, I would highlight that, yes, I am concerned. Until we can demonstrate that the activities that Transport Canada is doing in coordination with railway companies and other important parties are actually having a difference, we should be concerned.
I wanted to start off by highlighting that your concern for the safety of Canadians remains, based upon the testimony you gave at the transport committee, but upon further discussion and testimony at the transport committee, it came out that you were happy to see progress within the department, and I heard you talk about progress prior to the committee, which is always a good thing.
Of course, in business school we learn about this concept of kaizen, the Japanese concept of constant improvement, and we hope for this as well, but the truth of the matter is that it's the government that has the authority to place upon industry the requirements to produce the data and to take the steps to ensure that Canadians are safe.
Now I will move on to that area of responsibility for which industry must be held accountable by Transport Canada.
In your report you mentioned that Transport Canada collected more information from railway companies but that the information was sometimes late, incomplete, or of varying quality. Madam Auditor General, in your audit you also mention that Transport Canada doesn't set time frames for companies to correct safety deficiencies.
If that is the case, how does Transport Canada ensure that railways are compliant and eventually correct these safety deficiencies?