Transport Committee on May 23rd, 2018

[Kathleen Fox]

I can't attribute it to volume. It's more that there is no requirement for Transport Canada to conduct those inspections.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

I'm sure that's my minute.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, on to Mr. Liepert.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Thank you, Chair. Thank you for being here.

I have a couple of quick questions related to the unfortunate crash about a year ago now, involving the former colleague of many folks around here, Mr. Prentice. I also personally knew one of the other individuals on the aircraft.

My recollection is that your organization did a review of that and was a little critical of Transport Canada for not initiating some of the work and the actions that needed to be addressed, and which might have prevented that particular crash. Could you expand on that?

[Kathleen Fox]

Following that accident, first of all, we were unable to reconstruct the sequence of events because the aircraft was not equipped with recorders. We issued a new recommendation calling on the mandatory installation of lightweight flight recorders for commercial aircraft and business aircraft—that aircraft was being operated as a business aircraft—that aren't currently required to carry them. The minister has 90 days to respond to us since we released that, so we'll await the response.

The second thing we pointed out is that the operator of that aircraft had not been inspected since 2008 by Transport Canada, so Transport was not aware that the pilot was not qualified to carry passengers at night that night. He wasn't current. He hadn't done the takeoffs and landings required.

Third, that company did not have operational approval to operate as a single-pilot operation, which they were doing that night.

Fourth, there was a maintenance issue relating to non-compliance with an airworthiness directive, which might have been picked up in a Transport Canada inspection.

We issued a concern that Transport Canada needed to be more proactive in terms of going out and overseeing the business aircraft community and in terms of planned inspections as well, not just reacting to incidents and accidents or other reports to go out and inspect them.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

It was a little late at that stage.

How onerous would that be? Would it require a number of additional staff? I have no idea how many of these particular planes would fall into that category.

[Kathleen Fox]

There are something in the neighbourhood of 650 to 700 corporate operators in Canada. Undoubtedly, it would require some resources to go out and inspect that. Transport Canada had advised us or we had learned that they had temporarily suspended planned surveillance of that sector of the aviation industry in the summer of 2016, a couple of months before that accident—not to say that the two are related. They have now told us they are reinstituting in 2018 an action to do planned surveillance in that sector.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

I'm done. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Aubin, you have two minutes.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ms. Fox, I want to go back to railway transport, because you mentioned that the transportation of flammable liquids by rail would remain on the watch list until all the old DOT-111s are replaced by more robust tank cars.

Can you tell us right now that the newly designed TC-117 tank cars are safe as replacements? Or will we have to wait for disaster to strike to know for sure?

[Kathleen Fox]

We still don't have enough data on accidents and incidents to determine whether these tank cars comply with the standards. We know that the standards are a lot higher than before. We assume, and hope, that this new technology will perform better, should an accident occur. To date, we don't have lot of data on which to base an opinion.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Is the design of these new cars the solution to problems you've seen in previous accidents?

[Kathleen Fox]

Yes.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Thank you.

I have another question, on aviation safety this time.

We often talk about pilot fatigue. It seems there is not enough evidence available to describe, define and quantify this issue.

Which data should we be gathering to evaluate how important a factor aircraft pilot fatigue is in accidents?

[Kathleen Fox]

No matter the mode of transportation, we always investigate to see whether fatigue has played a role in accidents and incidents. We look at when the accidents occur: during the day, or at night. We look at the number of work hours people put in right before accidents and incidents occur. We look at how many hours of sleep they had, not only in the 24 hours leading up to the accidents, but up to 72 hours before, and even further back. We always look to find out whether fatigue has played a role in accidents and incidents. If so, we include this in our findings.

Since 2000, fatigue has played a role in approximately 20 air transportation accidents we've investigated, 15 of which involved crew members, the pilots. A number of these accidents involved private aircraft. We have investigated five or six cases involving commercial airline pilots.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Should Transport Canada be proactive in collecting data on pilots' schedules to get an idea of what's behind the accidents you've looked into? Should it review its regulations accordingly?

[Kathleen Fox]

Transport Canada has already prepared regulatory proposals. The system has its rules, but this will change as the new regulations are implemented. These regulations set a limit on pilots' in-flight hours and on-duty hours. It's up to the companies to keep records, subject to inspection by Transport Canada, to prove that they comply with the regulations and that they can manage pilot fatigue.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Do you believe that—

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm sorry, Monsieur Aubin, but this brings us to a close.

Thank you very much to our witnesses. We will move on.

Thank you for the information. I am sure if the committee has additional questions, we can send them off to you, Ms. Fox. I'm sure you'll be glad to answer them.

[Kathleen Fox]

Thank you, Madam Chair. Certainly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you all very much.

For the committee members, I have a question to ask before we go into our next portion. You all received an email regarding some information on our ocean war graves report. If there are no objections, the analysts will include that as an appendix to our report.

Is everybody okay with that?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

We will suspend momentarily until the minister and his staff come in.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I call the meeting back to order.

Pursuant to Standing Order 81(4), this is on the main estimates for 2018-19: vote 1, under Canadian Air Transport Security Authority; vote 1, under Canadian Transportation Agency; votes 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20, under Department of Transport; vote 1, under Marine Atlantic Inc.; votes 1, 5, and 10, under Office of Infrastructure of Canada; vote 1, under the Federal Bridge Corporation Limited; vote 1, under the Jacques-Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc.; vote 1, under VIA Rail Canada Inc.; and vote 1, under Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, referred to the committee on Monday, April 16.

Minister Sohi, welcome.

We welcome you here today with your officials. We are trying to move it along fast because of the timing. We have a vote that won't be too long.

For your opening remarks, Minister Sohi, please go ahead.

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Thank you so much for having me. I'm always honoured to be here with my staff.

I have the privilege of updating you on Infrastructure Canada's main estimates for 2018-19. Specifically, the department is requesting $6.15 billion to support the continued delivery of our long-term plan. This funding will ensure that communities across Canada have the money they need when they need it.

I also want to outline the significant progress our government has made to give all Canadians an even better place to call home and the brighter future they deserve. My honourable colleagues, the population of Canada is growing, and that means our communities must keep up with the demand for better ways to connect Canadians with each other. We also need faster, more efficient ways for Canadians to move the goods and services they produce to all parts of Canada and beyond. That is how our country will continue to grow and prosper and that's why, in every corner of this country, you see ground being broken, tunnels being dug, water treatment plants being upgraded, roads and bridges being improved, new buses and trains being rolled out, and 2018 is shaping up to be another busy construction season.

We are investing more than $180 billion under the investing in Canada plan. Together with our partners, we are making significant progress in implementing a plan that responds to their needs. That is because provinces, territories, municipalities, and indigenous communities own 98% of the public infrastructure in Canada.

I am proud to say that the first phase of our government's investing in Canada plan is making a real difference in the everyday lives of Canadians. It is already creating new opportunities for Canadians across the country to do business, trade, learn, and innovate, and is supporting thousands of jobs for the middle class and those working hard to join it.

Since the start of the government's mandate in November 2015, nearly 600,000 new jobs have been added to the economy. The results did not happen by chance. We have enacted a comprehensive plan for the economy, through measures such as middle-class tax cuts, the Canada child benefit, and investing in infrastructure. These infrastructure investments are supporting thousands of new jobs in—