Evidence of meeting #11 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was spill.
A recording is available from Parliament.
10:25 a.m.
Conservative
February 11th, 2014 / 10:25 a.m.
Director General, Marine Policy, Department of Transport
To be clear, yes, “world-class tanker safety system” is terminology to describe the regime we're putting in place that would include prevention measures, response measures, and liability and compensation measures, and, to use your term, we would be world-leading in each one of those categories.
10:25 a.m.
Conservative
Jeff Watson Conservative Essex, ON
That's correct. I appreciate the clarification. It's not simply a slogan.
With respect to oil handling facilities, are they currently under an inspection regime, and by which federal agency or agencies?
10:25 a.m.
Acting Director General, Marine Safety and Security, Department of Transport
Currently they are not. Therefore, there is no agency overseeing them, and that's what this bill is meant to do.
10:25 a.m.
Conservative
10:25 a.m.
Acting Director General, Marine Safety and Security, Department of Transport
Currently they do not.
10:25 a.m.
Conservative
Jeff Watson Conservative Essex, ON
For the purposes of the committee that's looking at the transportation of dangerous goods in a separate study—not this particular hearing we're in right now—should this committee consider whether or not oil handling facilities, as part of that network of transportation, should be required to have a safety management system?
10:25 a.m.
Acting Director General, Marine Safety and Security, Department of Transport
They will be required to produce plans, keep them up to date, and so on, and there will be a suite of regulations that will be implemented pursuant to the coming into force of the act with regard to oil handling facilities, and SMS might be something that could be considered.
10:25 a.m.
Conservative
Jeff Watson Conservative Essex, ON
Okay.
Regarding the number of oil handling facilities in the country, the estimate that's being talked about at the table today, or confirmed, is roughly 400, plus or minus. The opening statement, however, related to this particular part of the amendments cast some doubt on whether or not Transport Canada or any other agency knows of the existence of all oil handling facilities in the country.
Is there someone who is tasked or will be tasked with verifying the number and the location of each? Presumably, if we're going to regulate them, we'll need to know.
10:30 a.m.
Acting Director General, Marine Safety and Security, Department of Transport
Yes, and to make it clear, the act does request that the oil handling facilities make themselves known so we'll have complete knowledge of the landscape on that.
10:30 a.m.
Conservative
Jeff Watson Conservative Essex, ON
Switching gears here for a moment, with respect to the air industry, Transport Canada has been conducting studies on the market of commercially available insurance. Is that true?
10:30 a.m.
Acting Director General, Marine Safety and Security, Department of Transport
Yes, we have.
10:30 a.m.
Conservative
Jeff Watson Conservative Essex, ON
What is the status today of commercially available insurance for the purposes this act is addressing? How costly is it to the industry, if that insurance is obtainable?
10:30 a.m.
Director, Airports and Air Navigation Services Policy, Department of Transport
As I said, in 2001 it was taken off the market, and it came back on the market at a very high rate. Since that time, it has come down, but through our reports we deem it to still be at a rate that doesn't make it feasible for the airlines, combined with their own insurance, to operate.
10:30 a.m.
Conservative
10:30 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Larry Miller
Mr. Watson, you have 10 seconds left, so I'll let him answer briefly.
10:30 a.m.
Conservative
10:30 a.m.
Director, Airports and Air Navigation Services Policy, Department of Transport
The domestic market all have their own insurance.
10:30 a.m.
Conservative
Jeff Watson Conservative Essex, ON
For the purposes of what the act is attempting to address with aviation, more risk?
10:30 a.m.
Director, Airports and Air Navigation Services Policy, Department of Transport
We currently have a program in place. Currently, an airline has to have $150 million, and the other players in the air industry have $50 million. Government covers the rest.
10:30 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Larry Miller
Thank you. We have to move on.
Mr. Braid, you have five minutes.
10:30 a.m.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Monsieur Lachance, I didn't get the opportunity to speak with you earlier. I have a couple of questions remaining with respect to amendments to the Shipping Act.
In your presentation, you indicated and underlined that many of the amendments close a number of existing gaps. That seems to be the purpose of most of the amendments to the Shipping Act, if not all of them.
Could you please highlight the top three amendments in your mind in terms of their importance in addressing and filling existing gaps and perhaps even provide some examples of the sorts of situations they'll help to address, if that's possible?
10:30 a.m.
Acting Director General, Marine Safety and Security, Department of Transport
Yes, certainly.
In terms of gaps, the first one of course is the responder immunity. That's an important one given the fact that agents of response organizations and contractors, for example, who would come from the United States to enhance our response regime do not have the immunity that our response organizations here have in Canada. Therefore, they are very reluctant to come and help out. This is a very important one.
The next one is all the measures that we've put in place for oil handling facilities. Right now they are only required to have plans. Now we're asking them to submit plans, to notify us, and to notify the minister before starting operations and if they change operations, and so on. We'll have a way better handle on oil handling facilities.
The third is the administrative monetary regime, whereby we're adding to our tool kit to enforce the regulations that will be put in place vis-à-vis response organizations and vis-à-vis all handling facilities.
10:30 a.m.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
That's very good. I have a couple of follow-up questions.
With respect to responder immunity, then, is the responder immunity that we're establishing similar to what exists currently in the United States?
10:30 a.m.
Acting Director General, Marine Safety and Security, Department of Transport
What we're interested in vis-à-vis that bill is to ensure that we have adequate response capability in Canada and that we have the best response capability we can. We're interested in this side of the border. Our responders do not enjoy the same immunity down in the United States, but again, as I say, what we're interested in is having a very good response capability here in Canada and getting all the resources we can get our hands on.