Transport Committee on Nov. 29th, 2012

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

It's $150 million per year, not—

[David Miller]

This is just for this year because of the project cashflows. It has nothing to do with the overall total. It's our best estimate of how much cash we need this year.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Right, but the overall total, by the time we finish, is $18 million left per year for the next six years. Am I not correct on that?

[David Miller]

No, that would be based on the authorities. On the actual expenditures we have considerably more than that to go.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

But you have transferred $58.7 million to the department and then the $45 million to other departments. What is the justification of sending $45 million to other departments? Is it because there is a request? What kind of infrastructure funds are they? How is it green? Should it not meet some basic criteria?

The $58.7 million that's transferred just to do regular work of the transport department again has nothing to do with green infrastructure. How would you justify that transfer? The green infrastructure fund was really set up to assist municipalities to deal with their sewage, their clean water systems, and at the end of the day, so very few of those dollars are actually flowing to the municipalities to help them to deal with their 200 boil-water advisories per year.

[David Miller]

Perhaps I could start to answer this one. The green infrastructure fund was originally $1 billion, and yes, some amounts have been transferred out. In some cases it was because of a project that fell more appropriately under the control or the policy or the program authority of another organization. So it would have been green-related, but on the money, the principle of parliamentary control is that we provide the estimates of the department that has the program authority.

In terms of money to do green projects, the green infrastructure fund was set aside for specific strategic projects of national significance. Believe me, an incredible amount of money goes to things like water and waste water out of all the other seven or eight programs that are run by Infrastructure Canada, from the gas tax through to some traditional programs through to the Building Canada fund, both the community component and the major infrastructure component.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

The first round of funds went to sewage and clean water, but in later years it didn't. But the $58.7 million to the department, for regular work in your department, is.... How is that green?

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

I think that was kind of a comment.

Mr. Coderre.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We obviously would have liked the ministers to stay longer.

I would like to ask a question about Canada Post. Is there a plan to privatize Canada Post?

[Louis Lévesque]

I am aware of no government announcements about that.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Are any plans currently in the works for a number of options for Canada Post's future, including privatization?

[Louis Lévesque]

I am going to let Anita give you more details on that.

What I can say is that we usually work with Canada Post so that it can continue carrying out its mandate of providing Canadians with services defined in the Canadian Postal Service Charter while complying in a way with Canada Post Corporation's mandate to achieved a balanced budget.

[Anita Biguzs, Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Transport]

Just to build on what the deputy has said, clearly Canada Post is a crown corporation under the Transport portfolio. It has a legislative mandate, and it develops its own strategic plans. It presents its own corporate plan and corporate plan summaries, which are tabled in Parliament. It looks at how it can deliver its service in a self-sustaining way, which is also in its mandate.

The corporation is always in the process of looking at its operations, particularly at a time when letter-mail volumes are going down. It would be incumbent on the corporation to look at its own strategic plan with its board of directors in its business planning processes.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I guess one of my problems is that every time we're talking about a strategic plan and rentability, I have a feeling we're cutting some services. I understand it's a crown corporation. It's arm's length and all that. But I believe the relationship with a minister, because he's accountable to Parliament, is maybe to take a look at what's in their mind, what's the future.

I'm not asking you about policy. I'm just asking you about some contingent plans. Does the strategic plan mean privatization? Frankly, looking at the number, the way that they've been reducing....

I understand the Internet and all that, but rural Canada is also a first-class citizen, and I have the feeling that in certain areas, especially in Quebec, we are paying a little bit more than some other regions. I'm a federalist, so it's not one region against another. I'm just trying to understand the future of that great crown society.

[Anita Biguzs]

It's incumbent on the corporation, but the minister who's responsible also has a policy interest in the corporation and how it's delivering services. Letter-mail volumes, as I think everyone is aware, are declining, so the corporation is looking at measures that will make it more efficient in its operations. It embarked on a very ambitious postal transformation initiative a few years ago. It's still under way. It's trying to improve productivity and achieve efficiencies through those processes. It's looking at how it can expand its parcel business, which is experiencing some growth. But the corporation has to look at how it addresses this matter, from the point of view of the minister as well as the declining letter volumes, and how it continues to deliver services in an efficient manner.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Thank you.

Mr. Lévesque, I want to talk to you about aviation safety.

With regard to aviation safety, it appears that the logic of cost control is undermining public safety. The issue of aviation inspections appears to be increasingly a concern. How many inspectors are there currently in this field at Transport Canada? Do they all conduct actual inspections? Are they all regularly on flights?

I have another question for the deputy minister for safety and security. With regard to the discussions, how many pilots are involved in decisions and develop safety directives, and what specifically is the level of knowledge at the top of the hierarchy? Since March 30, 2010, how many more inspectors have been hired and how many more inspections have been conducted? What programs are there to ensure that pilots remain up to date on new aviation technologies and stay qualified in that area?

[Louis Lévesque]

Your question referred to knowledge at the top of the hierarchy. Based on my two and a half weeks of experience, I have no intention of telling you that I am an expert in aviation safety. However, what I know very clearly is that, in all the decisions that were made, particularly in the last budget regarding financial cutbacks, there were absolutely no cuts to aviation security programs and no staff cutbacks, that is to say to the number of positions allocated to those sectors. Safety is priority 1.

I can ask Anita or Gerard to answer more specific questions.

[Anita Biguzs]

I have a general comment, Mr. Chair, in terms of civil aviation generally. We have had a very aggressive and ambitious plan in terms of responding to some of the weaknesses that have been identified by the Auditor General. We believe we actually have a very effective program. I think the safety record in terms of the accident record is the best, certainly in recorded history, in terms of incidents.

That being said, I think we are actually going to have a very ambitious and aggressive plan in terms of addressing some of our issues. Included in that as well is the engagement process with our inspectors in terms of the development of the kinds of tools and guidance materials that our inspectors need in performing their functions, which is very important. We are, in fact, engaging them through working groups and other mechanisms to make sure that the surveillance procedures, for example, reflect the kinds of issues they are aware of on the ground, and that the instructions and guidance material are clear for them. So we have a very active engagement process with our inspectors to make sure they are part of the process and they have the guidance material they need.

We also ensure that we have training in place, certainly on surveillance planning, and we can indicate at this point—

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

With all due respect, madam, I asked specific questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

You have 10 seconds.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I asked for figures, Mr. Chair.

I would appreciate, since I asked some clear, specific questions, if you would send, through the chair, the answers I was asking for, if it's possible. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

You are out of time, but I will allow time if any of the witnesses has anything further to add.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Thanks. I appreciate it.

[Gerard McDonald, Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport]

To the question with respect to the knowledge level of our senior management, I can assure the committee that all of the senior people in the civil aviation area generally come from one of three professions. They are either pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, or other types of mechanical engineers, for a large part. They are all very well qualified and very capable of carrying out the duties they've been assigned.

[The Chair, Conservative, Larry Miller]

Thank you, Mr. McDonald.

Mr. Poilievre, five minutes.