Good afternoon, ladies, gentlemen and Mr. Lewis. I too feel that you have provided us with a fine piece of work. We can learn a lot from this report.
We in the Bloc Québécois supported the establishment of the safety management system for air transportation after having been persuaded that it was an additional safety system that would in no way replace the inspections conducted by the department. A system in place in each company would have to mean better and more consistent audits, over and above the inspections conducted by the department.
However, your observations do little to reassure me about railways. You said that it has been in place for seven years. On page 183, you write: "There is a need for Transport Canada to develop the capacity to provide effective oversight of SMS while maintaining appropriate inspection functions." You seem to be pointing out that we need additional resources to oversee the implementation of safety management systems. After all, you do not push a button and get perfectly operating systems in place. You are confirming that it is Transport Canada that should be making sure they work.
Also on page 183, we read the following: "Finally, lack of resources, both financial and human, to carry out the Transport Canada rail safety mandate was a matter of widespread concern within the department and elsewhere." From this, we gather that the department itself is aware that it lacks resources. To me, the fact that a department does not have the resources to fulfill its mandate is quite serious. I find it troubling. Everyone on the committee, even government members, are well aware of the importance of railway safety. But the department responsible for it lacks resources. That is the root of the problem.
Could you tell us precisely what you mean? Has putting the safety management system in place caused more administrative work for the department? Has it resulted in fewer resources for inspection because people were not specifically assigned to oversee the safety management systems? Perhaps our situation is worse after the SMS were put in place because we do not have enough resources. Instead of doing on-site inspections, people audit management systems that are not even completely supervised, according to what you are telling us.
Could I ask you to expand on this or to correct any erroneous comments I may have made?