Transport Committee on Nov. 21st, 2006

[Alain Langlois]

Those are the two terms, and both are accepted. If I go to the English version, you say: “the highest practicable safety and security standards.” In French, that would be: “les plus hautes normes possibles de sûreté et de sécurité.” The terms have different meanings, so you would have to use both.

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Both terms? That’s no problem; “de sûreté et de sécurité” is fine with me.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Mr. Bell.

[Don Bell, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

As I understand, in the reading, if I heard what was read--and maybe I need to have it read again in English--there was a drop-out of the words “economic” and “efficient”. Or are they still in there?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

That's out.

[Don Bell, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

Why is that out?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

I don't know.

[Don Bell, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

“Economic” and “efficient” were not in the translation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Mark, could you read that again en français, and then we can listen to the translation to see whether it's in or out. I thought I heard “economic” but not “efficient”.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Mark D'Amore]

In French, it reads as follows: “national compétitif, rentable qui rencontre les plus hautes normes possibles de sûreté et de sécurité qui favorise un environnement durable . . .”

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

So in essence, “efficient” is not in there.

[Don Bell, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

Can I ask the mover the reason why that would be?

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

In English, it says: “competitive, economic and efficient” and, in French, it says: “compétitif rentable.”

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

Excuse me, Mr. Chair, but the word “rentable” translates the two words. The word “rentable” has two meanings.

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

We are using “rentable” for “economic and efficient.”

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

So, the word “rentable” includes both.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Mr. Bell, are you satisfied with that?

[Don Bell, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

The English side would say “economic and efficient”.

[Mario Laframboise, Bloc, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

That's okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Mr. Carrier.

[Robert Carrier, Bloc, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

I need additional information. In the margin of clause 2 of the bill is written “declaration.” Is it a declaration that summarizes the spirit of the bill or the spirit of the whole transportation policy?

I see that we want to add many words such as “respects the environment” and “safety and security” but I don’t think we find those words in the bill. I find it inconsistent to talk about respect for the environment when it is not mentioned anywhere in the bill.

Can we permit ourselves a great big declaration of principle without dwelling on it too much afterward? In that case, I would agree to the idea of adding many similar terms. I would like to know what meaning a declaration at the beginning of a bill has.

[Helena Borges]

It is to state the principles recommended for the transportation system. For example, in the Transport Canada mandate, in French, we always use words such as “compétitif et économique.” In English, it’s “efficient.” In French, I think the words to use would be “bien adapté” rather than just the word “rentable.” We always talk about safety, security and the environment. Those are principles, but even if there are no clauses that repeat all those words, the declaration serves to state the overall objective of the legislation.

[Robert Carrier, Bloc, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

That could be a recipe to use for other bills in the future.

[Helena Borges]

We would like to try and standardize the declaration in all transportation legislation, for example, the Marine Act and the Carriage by Air Act. If you compare this declaration to others, you will see that they are very similar. So, we try to reproduce the same declaration in all legislation of an economic nature.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Mr. Fast.