Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.
My name is Jim Lowrie, and I am director of engineering at the City of New Westminster. My submission is on behalf of Mayor Wayne Wright, and we're pleased to make this submission today.
Incidentally, Mayor Wright does invite members of the committee to the city of New Westminster to experience firsthand the impact of railway operations on the city.
By way of background, the city of New Westminster was the first incorporated city in the province of British Columbia, incorporated in 1860. The city is located on the north shore of the Fraser River and has strong historical ties to the river and to the railway, principally in the later half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today the city of New Westminster is a thriving city with a population of approximately 60,000. The city occupies only 15 square kilometres, making it one of the most densely populated in the greater Vancouver metropolitan region.
The city hosts three major railway companies, each having marshalling yards located in relatively close proximity to residential neighbourhoods. Approximately 40,000 residents--over two-thirds of our population--live within one kilometre of a railway line or marshalling yard.
Historically the cooperation of railway companies in responding to neighbourhood complaints has been inconsistent. While some complaints are addressed, most others are not--complaints relating to shunting railcars, idling engines, squealing wheels on rails, and excessive whistle-blowing. It is the experience of city staff that railway companies have not been highly cooperative in modifying their operation to address the concerns of residents, particularly during the late night hours.
Mr. Chairman, specific comments on proposed Bill C-11, and we're speaking to clause 29 of this legislation, which suggests modifications to section 95 of the Canada Transportation Act. This section talks to the operation of railways, that they must not make unreasonable noise, taking into account various matters, including their own operational requirements.
Our submission would be that the balance here is between making unreasonable noise as it is perceived by residents and the operational requirements of the railway companies. Past experience in New Westminster has shown that railway companies are reluctant to modify their operations in meaningful ways to reduce or eliminate excessive noise, particularly in late night hours. We suggest that the use of language such as “unreasonable” invokes a high degree of subjectivity to the legislation.
With respect to proposed section 95.2, the concern here is the mention that the agency “may issue...guidelines”. We believe it's imperative the agency issue guidelines. That “may issue” should be a “must”, in our view. Perhaps the guidelines should be in the form of regulation. The guidelines are not proposed to be statutory, and we believe the guidelines or regulations must be made to be readily and easily enforceable. Given the geographic variation among municipal jurisdictions across the country, the logical enforcement agency would be local government. The suggestion here is the noise parameters could be nationally legislated, i.e., based on CMHC guidelines or those of some other agency.
With respect to proposed section 95.3, we question what authority the agency has in ordering operational changes of a railway company and what enforcement methods would be used in gaining compliance if the other companies are found to be non-compliant with adopted guidelines and regulations.
Mr. Chairman, in summary, we believe the intention of the proposed bill is laudable and commendable. The aforementioned suggestions are provided in the spirit of strengthening, improving, and providing clarity to the proposed legislation.
Thank you for the opportunity.