Transport Committee on Sept. 20th, 2018

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

That said, as you may know, in our neck of the woods we have the St. Lawrence Seaway, which is obviously an arm's-length corporation run by a separate board. Currently it's at 50% capacity. It's not working at its full potential. There are a lot of reasons for that, which I'm sure we're going to hear about, and a lot of them have to do with the infrastructure itself, with the management of the asset or the lack thereof.

Second to that is the question of other jurisdictions. You mentioned in your opening remarks that you're working with other jurisdictions and other levels of government on, for example, highways. One of the bottlenecks in Niagara is the QEW and the 401 corridor. Even this morning, it was shut down because of an accident; there's no redundancy. Are you prepared to look at working with arm's-length corporations to fix those challenges vis-à-vis the St. Lawrence Seaway, as well as with the provinces vis-à-vis the highway system?

[Martin McKay]

The fund itself is applicant-driven. We would look to those organizations if they have projects that are ready to move ahead. If they have the plans in place and their share of the funding, they're more than welcome to apply.

One of the challenges we had with the first round is that we saw some projects that weren't funded. They had a federal ask, but they didn't have the supporting provincial ask or a corporation's side of the funding.

They're definitely eligible to apply. Again, it's a case of them prioritizing which projects they wish to move forward.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Would the federal government entertain the idea of stepping outside of the jurisdictional boundary and funding, for example, a highway, with the province as a partner?

[Martin McKay]

If the province were to bring that forward as a proposal, and if through the evaluation it was shown to address the priorities of the national trade corridors fund, it would definitely be something that could be considered.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

That's great. Thank you, Martin.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Monsieur Aubin, go ahead.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome and thank you for joining us this morning. My questions will be for the whole group. You can decide who the best person to answer is.

My first question is about recent history. In 2007, Quebec and Ontario signed an agreement protocol with the Government of Canada to develop the Ontario-Quebec continental gateway and trade corridor initiative. However, it seems that there has been radio silence since. No strategy has been adopted. To my knowledge, nothing has been implemented.

Can someone explain why, although that agreement was signed more than 10 years ago, the gateway still does not exist?

[Sandra LaFortune]

The continental gateway you're referencing was part of the previous gateway and corridor initiative, which actually sunset. Was it in 2014?

[Martin McKay]

It was in 2018.

[Sandra LaFortune]

No, the last projects were done in 2018, but I think the sunset was—

[A voice]

It was in 2013.

[Sandra LaFortune]

Thank you.

It was in 2013. As a result, the national trade corridors fund is building on the regional gateways that were part of the gateway and corridor initiative. Initially, there were the Asia-Pacific gateway and corridor, the continental gateway and the Atlantic gateway. The national trade corridors fund and the trade and transportation corridors initiative are building on the lessons learned from the initial gateways and corridors experience we had for over 10 years.

They're trying to achieve a more national view rather than a regional view. There's now no regional gateway like the continental gateway, but it's about how all these pieces fit together into the overarching national system.

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

Thank you.

Almost daily since the 2015 election, we have been hearing the government say that it wants to make the environment and economic development work hand in hand. Words aside, I am struggling to see how that wish is materializing.

In the document on the Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative prepared by your department, I see no mention of sustainable development or clean growth. However, the breakdown of greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector shows that the transportation industry is probably the first or second source of greenhouse gaz emissions.

Could you tell me whether, for instance, the use of clean energy is among the eligibility criteria for program funding?

[Martin McKay]

It's an excellent question. When we look at the first round of national trade corridors funding and the priorities supporting that call, the first priority was how those projects addressed bottlenecks. The second priority and consideration in the evaluation of projects was how those projects addressed resiliency, both from a safety and security point of view and a climate change and environmental point of view.

Every project that was evaluated under the trade corridors fund, similar to the other infrastructure programs within the federal government, underwent a climate change lens evaluation that considered how it was responding to a changing climate and what steps were being taken by the project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It was very much a piece of that first call for proposals under the national trade corridor assignment.

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

Can any of the 19 projects funded by the national trade corridors fund be targeted? If so, how many approved projects are directly related to the fight against climate change?

[Martin McKay]

It may not be a fight against climate change. A study was approved in Atlantic Canada that's looking at the Chignecto Isthmus and the implications for that project in the face of rising sea levels: what may happen and what sort of resilient infrastructure can be added to that.

In addition, for all the projects it was taken into consideration how the greenhouse gas emissions could change based on the development and construction of those projects. A highway twinning project in southern Saskatchewan will increase the capacity of the road network in that area, thus allowing for a greater free flow of vehicles with reduced stopping and starting resulting from congestion. That also impacts climate change and improves the reduction of emissions.

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

Thank you.

I have a quick question on railway safety. I am using this opportunity to applaud the announcement the minister made yesterday to accelerate the schedule for removing DOT-111s.

Out of the 141 department staff members in charge of oversight and railway safety, how many are qualified to carry out railway safety audits?

[David McNabb]

Again, that's an area I'm not responsible for, but I could go back and get that answer for you.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

We'll move on to Mr. Iacono.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank the witnesses for coming here this morning to lay out an overall vision of the Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative. I will put my questions to all the witnesses. They can decide who would best be able to answer.

The Port of Montreal is the second largest port in Canada and the largest in Quebec. It is successful and innovative. As you say in your documents, Canada is contributing $64.3 million to two projects involving the port.

Could you briefly tell us about the projects in question and about the issues they address?

[Martin McKay]

I can certainly do that. The first project is the optimization of the intermodal network within the port. The federal contribution to that is $18.4 million. That's going to improve some of the infrastructures in the port, the underground infrastructure supporting the network, new roads within the port and the construction of some new rail assets within the port to help facilitate the movement of goods offloaded off ships onto railcars.

The second project within the port is improving access to the port. On the road network, again, a $45-million federal contribution is going to work with the City of Montreal in improving the local road network around the port to facilitate access.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you.

How can the optimization of intermodality reduce bottlenecks and improve trade performance in the Port of Montreal and, on a larger scale, in Canadian ports?

[Martin McKay]

Improving the fluidity of the movement of goods within the port, and optimizing that by having more capacity to take the containers off a ship and load them onto a railcar, means that those goods are moving more quickly from the port onto the road or rail network. When you start improving the roads around the port and increasing that capacity, it means that trucks entering and exiting the port are able to do that more quickly, thus eliminating congestion and getting the goods to market or onto the ships more quickly.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

What would be Transport Canada's approach when it comes to smart ports?