Evidence of meeting #45 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was railways.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:10 p.m.
Bloc
Roger Gaudet Bloc Montcalm, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to come back to a previous statement. Earlier, you said that you only inspect CN and CP. Is that correct?
5:10 p.m.
Director General, Rail Safety, Department of Transport
No. At this time, there are close to 31 railway companies under federal jurisdiction. They all come under Transport Canada.
The situation is different for provincially regulated companies. When they use federal tracks, it is the host railway that is held accountable if some measures have to be taken, which means that we do not have jurisdiction.
You may have heard of the Agence métropolitaine de transport, in Montréal. When AMT operates on CN or CP tracks and there is non-compliance, we cannot act against AMT, we have to act against CN or CP for them to correct the situation. That is one of the deficiencies of the existing legislation.
5:15 p.m.
Bloc
Roger Gaudet Bloc Montcalm, QC
If there is an accident, is it Transport Canada that will have jurisdiction?
5:15 p.m.
Director General, Rail Safety, Department of Transport
If the accident happens on CN or CP tracks, the Transport Safety Board will be the organization tasked with doing the investigation, anywhere in Canada.
5:15 p.m.
Bloc
Roger Gaudet Bloc Montcalm, QC
Earlier, you mentioned inspections. You said that you carry out inspections for 31 railway companies. How many inspectors do you have?
5:15 p.m.
Director General, Rail Safety, Department of Transport
Once we get everything relating to the review, we will have about 200 to 230 employees.
5:15 p.m.
Director General, Rail Safety, Department of Transport
We have an infrastructure program which includes tracks, bridges, tunnels, signals and crossings. We also have and equipment program which applies to locomotives and cars, as well as an operating program to control how the trains are operated. We check the qualifications to ensure that everyone is in compliance.
5:15 p.m.
Bloc
Roger Gaudet Bloc Montcalm, QC
Talking about compliance, we often hear disabled persons talk about the problems they have on the trains, especially in the washrooms. Do you...
5:15 p.m.
Director General, Rail Safety, Department of Transport
Accessibility is a matter coming under the Canada Transportation Act and is therefore regulated by the persons implementing that piece of legislation. They have received complaints from people with reduced mobility about the accessibility of washrooms on the trains of VIA Rail.
5:15 p.m.
Director General, Rail Safety, Department of Transport
It would be only if one could establish that the safety of those persons is jeopardized.
5:15 p.m.
Bloc
5:15 p.m.
Director General, Rail Safety, Department of Transport
It is based on their compliance profile. We do that on the basis of risk. Those companies that, based on what we know about their operations, have a very high compliance level would be inspected less frequently than those that do not have a similar level of compliance. So, it varies. Since CN and CP are responsible for about 72% of all the rail traffic in Canada, a good chunk of our time is spent with those two companies.
5:15 p.m.
Bloc
Roger Gaudet Bloc Montcalm, QC
Apart from CN and CP, are there many accidents? I am referring to the companies making up the remaining 28%.
5:15 p.m.
Director General, Rail Safety, Department of Transport
There are some but not many.
5:15 p.m.
Director General, Rail Safety, Department of Transport
Yes, the proportion is roughly the same.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Rob Merrifield Conservative Yellowhead, AB
It's important to know that the railways are appreciative of this, and it's not that they are not concerned about safety. They are. They know when there's a derailment, an accident, this costs them a lot of dollars. The last thing they want is a derailment. They really are wanting to comply with whatever is needed to make sure they can run safely. This is actually a win-win situation, a win-win bill for everybody.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Merv Tweed
Merci, Monsieur Gaudet.
Ms. Gallant, welcome to our committee. You have five minutes.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and through you to our witness.
Minister, you mentioned the federal railway crossing improvement program, stating that projects are prioritized according to the level of danger. What data or statistics are used in order to determine what constitutes a level of danger? How do you put in order of precedence which rail crossings need to be done first?
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Rob Merrifield Conservative Yellowhead, AB
I don't do that, as the minister. It's done by a committee of experts who look at the risk, the volume of traffic, the grade, the sight lines, all of the things that go into crossing safely. Then they assess them. I don't politically interfere with that. I just say let the experts decide, discern based on the criteria, and we roll the program out.
We can't do them all at one time, but we've been rolling it out over the last couple of years. I'm sure most everyone here has had some experience of good changes to rail grade crossings in their ridings or constituencies. We'll just continue to do that good work, but it's the experts who make that determination.
5:15 p.m.
Conservative
Cheryl Gallant Conservative Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON
Is it based on the number of accidents or the number of deaths?