Transport Committee on Sept. 24th, 2018

[Scott Luey]

Through the chair, the municipalities in Niagara—and there are 12 as well as the upper tier, the county, basically, the region of Niagara—are the boots on the ground. We have the experience in moving people, moving products and attracting new investment.

I personally visit businesses in Port Colborne that ship amazing products all over the world, products that you wouldn't believe could be made inside a building. I've seen mining equipment that goes to Singapore, to the oil region of Alberta and all over Canada, and it's all coming out of Port Colborne. Those businesses are the ones that are going to benefit from a transportation infrastructure, a multimodal way of moving people and products all around the country. That's where I think the benefit is going to come home, for industry, commerce and residential, all over the Niagara region.

[Jayesh Menon]

One thing I would refer to is that at some point in time if we have these agendas being addressed, particularly the mid-peninsula corridor that we discussed, and that is taken as a priority as far as an agenda is concerned, then I can assure you of one thing. There are some specific industrial leaders within Niagara region. Perhaps in one year from now, if you all are out here in the same forum, I can invite some of the companies that have stories to tell about how they have made great in Niagara. If we can elevate some of these agendas in place.... This is a great place. I say a Niagara address equals export success.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Wonderful. Thank you, gentlemen, very much for all that great information. Good luck with your initiatives. They're both very futuristic.

We will suspend until 2:00 p.m.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I call our meeting to order.

From the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority, we have Ron Reinas, general manager; from the Canada Border Services Agency, we have Richard Comerford, regional director general, southern Ontario region; and from the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, we have Kenneth Bieger, general manager.

Welcome to you all, and thank you for being here.

Who would like to go first?

[Richard Comerford, Regional Director General, Southern Ontario Region, Canada Border Services Agency]

I think I just got the consensus here.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the committee. I am Richard Comerford, regional director general for the Canada Border Service Agency, southern Ontario region. Thanks for giving me the opportunity today to provide an overview of CBSA operations here in southern Ontario.

The southern Ontario region of the Canada Border Services Agency extends across the southern tier of Ontario, encompassing the cities of Windsor, Sarnia, London, Fort Erie, Niagara Falls and their surrounding communities. The region is home to four of the top five busiest land border operations in Canada, with major international bridges, medium-sized airports and marine services. Passenger and cargo services are provided for highway, air, marine and rail modes of transport.

The southern Ontario region is responsible for processing approximately 40% of the national total of traveller mode highway conveyances and approximately 60% of the national total of all commercial mode highway conveyances.

Trade and security remain a top priority for the CBSA. The CBSA is committed to the facilitation of low-risk travel and commerce to support economic prosperity, while protecting Canadians from public safety threats through a risk-based approach supported by pre-arrival and intelligence information.

We work co-operatively with our domestic and international enforcement and security partners on implementing a border strategy that relies on technology, information sharing and biometrics to create a smart and secure border. CBSA has taken a wide range of measures to increase vigilance and maximize its capacity to conduct risk assessments of people and goods before they arrive in Canada. Advance information pertaining to both goods and drivers with strategic risking systems, while leveraging emerging technologies and capabilities, is at the forefront of innovative solutions to reduce processing times while maintaining the integrity of the CBSA mandate.

It goes without saying that we must manage increased commercial vehicle volumes, service demands during peak season summer months, and special events taking place on both sides of the border. In the last five years, our region has consistently processed between 57% and 59% of the national total of commercial conveyances, and we have the highest number of trusted transactional volumes in the country.

In terms of operational delivery, the Ambassador Bridge ranks first in commercial processing across Canada, with approximately 1.5 million commercial conveyances processed in fiscal year 2017-18. The Ambassador Bridge is followed by two other southern Ontario land border crossings for national commercial volumes, namely, the Blue Water Bridge and the Peace Bridge, which processed approximately 820,000 and 580,000, respectively, in fiscal year 2017-18.

In terms of traveller processing, the Ambassador Bridge again ranks first in traveller processing conveyances with approximately 2.2 million cars Canada bound in the 2017-18 fiscal year, followed by the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Peace Bridge operations. Overall in the 2017-18 fiscal year, the southern Ontario region was responsible for the clearance of approximately 3.3 million commercial conveyances, 11 million cars and 25 million travellers.

As previously referenced, trade and security remain top priorities for the southern Ontario region of CBSA. This has led to investments in a border clearance model that leverages technological advancements to modernize service delivery. This includes our new and expanded trusted travellers and trusted traders programs that further automate infrastructure to accelerate the low-risk passage of people and goods. It also includes better analytical capabilities so that we can detect and identify higher-risk targets.

Our free and secure trade program is a commercial clearance program designed to ensure safety and security while expediting legitimate trade across the Canada-United States border. As of July 2018, the CBSA has 58,519 active fast drivers. Fast-load lanes are located at the Ambassador Bridge and the Blue Water Bridge, and one was established at the Peace Bridge in February 2017 as a flex lane, to be used as a fast lane or as a regular primary inspection lane.

NEXUS is a joint CBSA and U.S. customs and border protection program to simplify the process of crossing the border for members while also enhancing security. It is designed to expedite the border clearance process for low risk pre-approved travellers into Canada and the United States.

There are NEXUS automated self-serve kiosks at international airports, designated lanes at land borders and advanced reporting of arrival from marine mode. NEXUS has also provided expedited security screening at airports in the CATSA security line. As of July 2018, the CBSA has approximately 1.7 million active participants in the program.

The commercial eManifest program modernizes enhanced screening of goods and commercial processes by improving the CBSA's ability to detect shipments that pose high or unknown risk prior to their arrival and to facilitate the movement of low-risk shipments. The eManifest program requires carriers and freight forwarders to send advanced commercial information about their shipments electronically to the CBSA.

In terms of a simplified commercial process, the single window initiative enables importers and customs brokers to send an electronic integrated import declaration to the CBSA for nine participating government departments and agencies. The integrated import declaration can be for both regulated and non-regulated commodities.

Another key transformation initiative taking place in southern Ontario with CBSA is the secure corridor pilot at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor. The secure pilot will evaluate the feasibility of using a combination of technologies to expedite the passage of low-risk free and secure trade, what we refer to as FAST eligible shipments, and streamline commercial primary processing. The secure pilot will begin at the Ambassador Bridge with lanes retrofitting and commercial convenience passage commencing this month. In fact, they've already started.

Again, the southern Ontario region strives to ensure that borders are open to low-risk travel and commerce and closed to crime. The CBSA works co-operatively with its joint law enforcement partners in implementing strategies that rely on joint force initiatives and information sharing to secure Canada's borders.

In fiscal year 2017-18, our region completed 3,307 seizure actions. The top commodity comprising more than half of the seizures was narcotics, drugs or other chemicals. Firearms, prohibited weapons and prohibited devices combined to be the second most prevalent seizure commodity in the southern Ontario region.

Likewise, in 2017-18, southern Ontario completed 1,161 immigration inadmissibility reports.

The southern Ontario region is working in collaboration with the national targeting centre as well in a pilot to evaluate commercial targeting technology. This commercial targeting pilot was implemented at the Peace Bridge in late July 2018. The pilot is focused on using advanced data analytics and new evidence-based intelligence-driven targeting methodologies. A final review of the analysis and the pilot was expected to be conducted in late 2018.

Yes, Madam?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm sorry, but you'll have to try to get your remaining comments in through the committee's questions.

[Richard Comerford]

Sure.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Reinas, please, for five minutes.

[Ron Reinas, General Manager, Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority]

Thank you.

I'm the general manager of the binational Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority which owns and operates the Peace Bridge and the customs plazas in both Canada and the United States.

The Peace Bridge is at the terminus of the Queen Elizabeth Way, which is a key economic, trade and tourism corridor. The Peace Bridge is currently undergoing a $100-million U.S. self-funded rehabilitation project to be completed in June 2019. The Queen Elizabeth Way corridor serves four international bridges between Canada and the U.S.: the Peace Bridge, the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, the Rainbow Bridge and the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge. Ken will speak about those bridges after me.

In 2017, the Queen Elizabeth Way corridor ranked second in Canada in terms of commercial volume and passenger vehicles. Cars totalled almost 10 million crossings. That's in both directions.

When you compare it to the other crossings, it's amazing actually how much traffic crosses at these bridges. Commercial trucks totalled almost two million crossings. Approximately 85% of all goods traded between the U.S. and Canada move by land transport mode, that is, trucking or rail. Of all U.S.-Canada trade, 54% is transported by truck. The Queen Elizabeth Way corridor accounts for 37% of that trucking volume into Canada and represents an estimated $80 billion in two-way trade annually.

While the Ambassador Bridge carries significantly more commercial traffic than the Queen Elizabeth Way corridor, the nature of that traffic is different in that about 40% to 50% facilitates intra-company automotive trade between the Windsor and Detroit region. The commodity mix within the Queen Elizabeth Way corridor is much more diverse than that at the Ambassador Bridge.

Just to provide some corridor perspective, and Member Badawey will certainly appreciate this, on the Queen Elizabeth Way at Grimsby, halfway between Hamilton and Niagara Falls, the average annual daily traffic, or AADT, is approximately 120,000 vehicles. On Highway 401 at Chatham, halfway between London and Windsor, the average annual daily traffic is approximately 23,000 vehicles, compared to the 120,000 at Grimsby. It's actually quite a stunning number.

The difference is that the Queen Elizabeth Way is not only a trade corridor, but it is also a commuter highway and the primary tourism conduit connecting the greater Toronto area with the attractions of Niagara Falls, the wineries of the Niagara region, the beaches of Port Colborne and Fort Erie, and western New York and the Buffalo region.

Much has been reported about congestion at the borders, often referred to as thickening of the border, and how this impedes the flow of trade and tourism. While infrastructure certainly plays a part, there are much bigger factors in the fluidity of the border. These are the impacts of customs resourcing and management, staffing of booths, which Mr. Comerford spoke about, customs procedures and technology. The best way to describe this is in terms of lift bridges that don't have customs at either end.

As an example, if you came here from Toronto, the Burlington Bay Skyway is eight lanes and carries 150,000 vehicles a day, or a per lane average of 18,750 vehicles. The Garden City Skyway in St. Catharines is six lanes and carries about 90,500 vehicles every day.

Compare that to the Peace Bridge with 14,500 vehicles, or only 4,800 vehicles per lane, or even the Ambassador Bridge with only four lanes but it carries 18,836 vehicles, or 4,700 vehicles per lane. On a per lane basis, the issue is not infrastructure over the river; it's dealing with the customs and procedures at the end of the bridges in either country.

The point I'm trying to make is that border crossings and trade corridors require a multi-departmental approach within government and between government, not just transport. The silos between agencies and governments must be broken down. For example, the federal government is expending over $5 billion on the Gordie Howe bridge, not including the operating costs, which will never be recovered by toll revenue, while at the same time CBSA does not have capital funding for an e-gate program for NEXUS and has approached bridge operators to pay for the capital costs.

No money is allocated for a NEXUS marketing program, even though moving from 25% NEXUS utilization to 50% would eliminate border delays at the Peace Bridge and likely all border crossings.

Unlike the State Department, Passport Canada does not issue RFID passport cards, even though they would significantly improve booth processing times. The Peace Bridge is installing RFID readers in Canada for each inspection lane, with 50% funding from the national trade corridors fund, but there's no commitment to actually do passport cards.

Similarly, RFID-enabled driver's licences are available, but they are not promoted by Ontario's Ministry of Transportation. There are not just issues in Canada; there are also issues in the U.S. U.S. Customs requires regulatory reform to mandate e-Manifest for all commercial trucks and mandatory prepayment of their border crossing fees. Again, that would facilitate exports from Canada into the U.S.

Little is being done to address trade corridor bottlenecks away from border crossings. For example, the mid-peninsula corridor that's been talked about for decades to relieve QEW corridor congestion is not being addressed. In-transit delay is a delay no matter where it occurs.

Thank you for the opportunity to address the committee. I trust my comments will be helpful as you continue your deliberations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

They certainly will. Thank you very much.

Mr. Bieger.

[Kenneth Bieger, General Manager, Niagara Falls Bridge Commission]

My name is Ken Bieger. I am the general manager of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission.

As Ron mentioned, we have three bridges. We have the Rainbow Bridge, which is a pedestrian bridge. It's also a high tourist bridge and handles auto traffic. We have the Whirlpool Bridge, which is our oldest bridge. Built in 1898, it is a trusted traveller bridge for NEXUS autos only. Then we have the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, which I think is probably the most important for the group here. That is our commercial truck and auto traffic bridge. There are no pedestrians on the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.

We were asked to help the group here come up with ways to maximize the efficiency of Canada's trade corridor. I'll break this down into the three areas I see.

First, ensure that the technology in place is robust and that the downtime is equitably managed by someone who understands, really, the cost of trade. As a border operator between, let's say, CBSA and the government, we see a lot of discussion about trade, but there seems to be a disconnect when it comes down to implementing some of the things that are critical for us as border operators. Technology is a big part of it. I think we all know that there will be issues moving forward with staffing in terms of the number of CBSA officers, and the same on the U.S. side with CBP officers. Technology will be taking over. We need to bridge that gap between now and at the point that technology improves.

Currently we have issues with the advance commercial information system. We've had a lot of downtime in the last three or four years. It has improved recently, but it's been an issue. Better redundancy procedures in place for when these downtimes happen would help. These truckers get stuck at the border when these computer systems go down.

The transparency with metrics would be a big plus for us also. We are truly a partner with CBSA. I have to say that the local CBSA group is great with us as border operators. We have a great relationship between the Peace Bridge and the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, but by improving metrics even from Ottawa as far as wait times and downtimes and things like that are concerned, we could communicate back and forth and all be on the same page. The way I put it in my write-up is that poor information leads to poor decisions. If we can work together with the metrics and both agree what the wait times are and what the reasons are, I think that shared information would be helpful. Really, we think funding for upgrades in computer and technology systems would be a big plus, from our perspective.

Ron touched on staffing, as did Rick. Again, staffing improved with regard to our wait times here in the last year, in 2017, but 2016 was a difficult summer for everyone.

A lot of things lead to that. The collective bargaining agreement is outside of local control. I think there has to be some communication, some understanding, when decisions are made. Having the front-line officers have guns was a big issue. Not having everyone being able to be on the primary inspection lanes has caused a lot of issues at the port, so the collective bargaining agreement is an issue.

Really, from Ottawa basically just.... I think this again goes back to the disconnect between trade and what's really happening on the line. I think it's great that everybody's here and visiting the Peace Bridge tomorrow. Actually getting out there and seeing the trade and seeing these trucks go across really highlights that connection as to how much money we're talking about when these things are held up. It goes back to having adequate staffing and understanding it first-hand out there, at the primary inspection lane, versus Ottawa, let's say, not fully understanding the trade implications.

Ron touched on the Gordie Howe bridge. Obviously, from a border operator perspective, we're concerned that we have limited resources right now with CBSA. Are resources going to become more scarce when a bridge like Gordie Howe Bridge is going to open in the future?

In terms of the immigration issues with asylum seekers, the impact has affected border operators. I'm not sure if there's a different way in which that could be handled or improved for efficiency. Locally, I know everything's being done to work on different options to improve things.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much. You might be able to continue your comments when you're answering some questions.

Go ahead, Mr. Liepert.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you for being here, gentlemen.

I'm going to ask a couple of questions that are maybe a little bit off topic, but I want to ensure that my colleagues don't take this the wrong way, relative to politicizing something.

Mr. Comerford, you mentioned in your report that more than half of your seizures were narcotics and drugs. Do you see any difficulties with the NEXUS program at the border with the movement of goods because of the legalization of marijuana?

[Richard Comerford]

Thank you for the question.

In terms of the NEXUS process—and I do believe that's what you're referring to—is this in terms of NEXUS processing or just in general?

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

Well, both. I mean the NEXUS processing, but also those that may be caught up in it if they don't have the NEXUS at the border.

[Richard Comerford]

In terms of legalization of cannabis, what's happening is that there's really been no change at the border. It is illegal to import and be in possession of marijuana when you arrive in Canada.

The first thing that I would say is that all goods need to be declared by people coming into the country. If they aren't declared, they are subject to seizure, and that applies to all drugs as well. Any drugs that are in your possession, you must declare. If we find them, they will be seized and you will be arrested and prosecuted.

Therefore, do I see a difference in the current way of operating compared to when the cannabis legislation comes into effect? I don't.

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

I guess, though, I'm looking more at how the U.S. will be treating our legalization of cannabis.

In your discussions, would you know what the U.S. border authorities...? We're going to have truck drivers now, as an example, who may be asked questions that could impact the transfer of goods.

[Richard Comerford]

I can't speak on behalf of the United States Customs and Border Protection, so I can't speak to their policies. What I can say is that the various levels of government are talking about movement and declaration of goods across the border and issues around cannabis.

That's the best I can respond to that question, as an operational director. I haven't had or been part of any of those discussions at this time. However, to ask if you've taken cannabis is not a normal question that the U.S. CBP would ask at the border.

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

The U.S. wouldn't?

[Richard Comerford]

No.

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

Okay.

Although I must admit that I can't speak as a NEXUS holder, the NEXUS program has been incredibly successful in terms of how effective it is within the business community. I can only tell you how effective it can be as a traveller.

What do you see in the future that could be the next stage of NEXUS? We had a presentation—I guess it was before we left Ottawa—about pre-clearance of goods. In that area, what could you see being standard in five years, almost like NEXUS is now?

[Richard Comerford]

First, on the NEXUS program, it's going to continue to build on the 25,000 applications we get every month to continue that outreach in educating people that this is a more effective and efficient way to cross the border. Any time CBSA gets pre-arrival information, we can assess risk before the people arrive in the country.

That takes our processing time down from potentially 60 seconds to potentially 25 seconds in a very standard way. Promoting the program, encouraging enrolment, and then from a technological perspective advancing RFID technology so that we can read the information prior to the person arriving to the toll booth—one of which you're going to be visiting tomorrow— and having that advance information allow a cleaner flow-through, so it reduces the dwell time at the border and the time for risk-assessing the individual.

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

What about the other way, though? Could we be in a position five years from now where pre-clearance of a truck of goods that's going into the United States from Canada could be done in the same way that pre-clearance is done with passengers today? You pre-clear it, you lock it up, and you go through the border. Is that something you could see? I would think that would expedite a great deal of our movement of goods.

[Richard Comerford]

As you are well aware, the pre-clearance agreement was discussed in 2015, I believe. We are making strides with the Americans in order to move that program forward.

I can't say where we're going to be in five years from now, but I can say that if you can determine that a truckload and a driver are low risk, then that truck should freely move over the border. That's what we're aiming to do through a pilot we have at the Windsor Bridge, which we refer to as a secure corridor. Again, in that secure corridor, they are a trusted partner, they are a trusted trader, and the driver is a FAST driver, so we have all the information we need about the goods and the driver and we're expediting that through a corridor.

To answer the question, in five years I hope to expand that trusted trader corridor.

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

Yes. It makes sense.

Thanks.