Evidence of meeting #57 for Public Accounts in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was foundation.
A video is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné Bloc Terrebonne, QC
All right. Air Canada has received nearly $6 billion in public money in recent years. Who has the authority to ensure that Air Canada passengers are protected?
Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
The agency administers the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, which are in place for that purpose. It's a complaints-based regime to protect passengers. I realize that we have a considerable backlog of complaints, as everyone knows. We recently received funding to address that backlog. We are also looking at our process for handling those complaints to make it more efficient, and we are already starting to see results. The regulations are definitely an important part of our consumer protection regime in air travel.
Bloc
Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné Bloc Terrebonne, QC
Do you feel you have adequate funding and authority to impose sanctions or make sure that airlines comply with the regulations?
Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
As I told the members of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, the current legislation governing the air passenger protection regime is fairly complex. It's built around three flight categories, but the airlines are the ones with the information to determine which category a flight falls under. For that reason, it's very difficult for passengers, and even the agency, to determine which conditions apply. If the legislation were clearer and less complex, it would certainly make things easier for us. I know the minister commented on that recently.
Bloc
Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné Bloc Terrebonne, QC
The government has set out a clear mandate requiring that airline personnel be able to serve customers in both official languages, so who do you think should have the authority to oversee that and impose sanctions on non-compliant airlines?
Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
Our mandate does not cover—
Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
I'm not sure whether it's the Commissioner of Official Languages, but I know the commissioner has looked into that.
Bloc
Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné Bloc Terrebonne, QC
That has to do with the use of French, but for matters relating to accessibility for persons with disabilities or inclusion overall, who can make sure that airlines actually provide those services?
Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
Accessibility is part of our mandate, and we do the best we can.
Bloc
Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné Bloc Terrebonne, QC
You said it was shared by different organizations. The Commissioner of Official Languages is responsible for issues that involve the use of French, and you are responsible for accessibility issues.
Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
As a regulator and administrative tribunal, we have some technical expertise in the transportation sector. That's why our mandate includes accessibility in the transportation sector.
Other government agencies have different responsibilities in the area of accessibility, but we are responsible for accessibility as it relates to transportation.
We are also responsible for air passenger protection. We carry out our mandate in accordance with the legislation in place. Respectfully, I would say that if Parliament decided to make changes to the legislation, we would make new regulations and adjust our activities accordingly.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Williamson
Thank you.
Mr. Desjarlais, you have the floor for six minutes, please.
NDP
Blake Desjarlais NDP Edmonton Griesbach, AB
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank the witnesses as well, for being present with us this morning. Again, I apologize for some of the business we often have to deal with in this committee. Thank you for your patience in ensuring that we're able to get through some of the important business while also being able to conduct the review of the audit that has been presented by the Auditor General.
I am, of course, often displeased when I see the reports from the Auditor General. Most of them highlight the deficiencies that are found within our civil service and within the programs and services offered by the government or paid for in part by it.
It's no secret that persons with disabilities have significant barriers in our society writ large. However, particularly in a country like Canada, one of the largest in the world, a country where our charter and our constitution protect their mobility, the institutions that are responsible for delivering that do not.
It is a concern to me, and I would hope to parliamentarians from all benches, to find ways and means to ensure that we fix this problem and ensure that transport services like Via Rail can accommodate persons with disabilities in a way that centres on them and their experience.
I understand that the departments have in fact worked closely, in some part, in consultation phases with the community to find better ways of finding points of accessibility that make those barriers less significant. However, it's clear from this audit that they persist.
I want to find a better way to understand why they're continuing to persist. It's noted in the audit, for example, “In 2019 and 2020, nearly two thirds of the 2.2 million persons with disabilities who travelled on planes, trains, and other federally regulated modes of transportation faced a barrier.”
They're not happy to hear that this huge population—this huge number of Canadians—were unable to access the beauties of this great country, whether to see their family or to get to services elsewhere.
Here's another quote:
While VIA Rail and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority—as transportation service providers—consulted with persons with disabilities to gather feedback on projects such as accessibility plans and the design of VIA Rail’s new fleet, some ongoing issues that persons with disabilities regularly face remained.
It continues:
For example, websites for planning and booking trips were not fully accessible despite this being one of the most frequently experienced barriers in transportation for persons with disabilities.
This tells me that the Auditor General found you were able to identify the issue yourselves. Whether it was by consultation with persons with disabilities or by other means, the community offered themselves in the consultation to have that barrier identified, and then that barrier persisted.
I hope you can understand how unsatisfactory that is, not only to me but to the millions of Canadians with disabilities who have to rely on these services. It's a massive issue.
I want to start now with my questions to the Via Rail representative, who I believe is maybe online.
What are the remaining challenges that disabled Canadians face in terms of Via's online presence and its reservation system?
Chief Financial Officer, VIA Rail Canada Inc.
Thank you for your question.
I'm going to pass that over to Catherine Langlois, who can tell you about the plan we developed. The implementation phase is under way and will continue throughout 2023.
Senior Advisor, Universal Accessibility, VIA Rail Canada Inc.
Thank you for your question, Mr. Desjarlais. You asked about two elements, the website and the reservation system.
As far as our website is concerned, Via Rail has committed to an annual web content review by a digital accessibility consultant. The purpose is to determine whether the site contains any content that isn't accessible, so we can make any recommended changes. In addition, the members of our advisory committee, who represent people with a range of disabilities, test Via Rail's website once a year or more, as needed, to determine whether any accessibility improvements are warranted. That means Via Rail's website is subject to accessibility scrutiny on two levels.
As for the reservation system, we're launching a brand new system in the next few weeks. Under the new system, passengers with disabilities will be able to book trips completely on their own.
NDP
Blake Desjarlais NDP Edmonton Griesbach, AB
Thank you very much for that.
I'd like to follow up specifically on some of the responses you gave.
In relation to Via Rail's online portal, is there a target date for when that will be fully accessible for persons with disabilities? If so, do you have adequate resources to ensure that the online presence and reservation system are made and kept fully accessible as progressive updates occur?
Senior Advisor, Universal Accessibility, VIA Rail Canada Inc.
Thank you for your question.
In terms of when the site will be fully accessible, we are targeting the end of 2023 given the immense amount of work involved. We are committed to ensuring that the website is fully accessible by the end of the year.
In terms of the reservation system, we believe we have the necessary resources to make it fully accessible.
NDP
Blake Desjarlais NDP Edmonton Griesbach, AB
Finally, throughout this process you mentioned the end of 2023. Are persons with disabilities being consulted throughout this process, and will they be consulted for the product that will inevitably be created by that target date?
Senior Advisor, Universal Accessibility, VIA Rail Canada Inc.
Thank you for your question.
Yes, the members of our advisory committee represent persons with a range of disabilities, as I mentioned, and they will be consulted throughout the process. We want to make sure that the changes we make to the website are in line with best practices in digital accessibility.
Conservative
NDP
Blake Desjarlais NDP Edmonton Griesbach, AB
Could you just describe the composition of this council, how the council is appointed and reviewed, and when or if new members are ever added?
Senior Advisor, Universal Accessibility, VIA Rail Canada Inc.
The makeup of the Universal Accessibility Advisory Committee was modelled on the Canadian Transportation Agency's advisory committee. We used the same list of participants and asked those stakeholders whether they were interested in sitting on our advisory committee. A large majority of them agreed to participate. They are members of disability rights groups all over Canada and represent persons with a range of disabilities. The committee meets once every quarter.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Williamson
Thank you very much.
We're beginning our second round.
Mr. Kram, you have the floor for five minutes. Go ahead, please.
Conservative
Michael Kram Conservative Regina—Wascana, SK
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank all the witnesses for being here today. I would also like to thank you for all your work on this issue. I think all parties and all members can agree that creating a more inclusive transportation system and a more inclusive society for persons with disabilities is certainly very important. According to the audit, progress has been made, but there's always more work to be done.
With that, I would like to start with the witnesses from Via Rail. On page 14 of the accessibility plan, training for managers and executives as well as client service staff is spelled out. I am wondering if the witnesses from Via could clarify whether accessibility training is mandatory for managers and executives as well as client service staff.