Evidence of meeting #133 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair (Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)) Liberal Judy Sgro
I'm calling the meeting to order.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), we are doing a study of the subject matter of the supplementary estimates (B) 2018-19: votes 1b, 5b, 10b and 15b under Department of Transport; vote 10b under Office of Infrastructure of Canada; vote 1b under The Jacques-Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc.; and vote 1b under VIA Rail Canada Inc.
Before I call on the witnesses, I understand that Mr. Carrie wants the floor.
Colin Carrie Oshawa, CPC
Yes. Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I want to thank my colleagues for allowing me to be here. I'd like to move the motion put on record by Madam Block on February 25, 2019:
That the Committee, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), undertake a study of two meetings on the government's intent to amalgamate the Oshawa and Hamilton port authorities and that the study include: any consultations the government held with stakeholders, the business and governance model, its impact on the local economies and the province of Ontario as well as consultations with the municipalities involved, and that the Committee report its findings to the House.
Madam Chair, I know this committee is doing some great work with the Canadian transportation and logistics study. I understand that there's been an interim report and a lot of good work done in this regard, but I need to bring this up because it's an extremely timely issue for my community. There's a deadline. I think everybody around the table knows that Oshawa got a really big hit recently with the General Motors announcement of the plant closure, and now one of our secondary economic drivers is really hit with some uncertainty.
Our port authority is really important for the city and the region's economic plan. On February 5, the Minister of Transport announced on Newswire—he didn't even pick up the phone and talk to our mayor—that it's the Liberal government's intent to amalgamate the Oshawa and Hamilton port authorities to form a new entity.
The decision was actually a shock to our business leaders and our users. To quote our mayor, Dan Carter, he said, “On behalf of City Council and staff, we were taken aback by the Government of Canada's premature announcement that it intends to amalgamate the two ports.”
Now, the government was very clear that they would make decisions with openness and transparency and with a commitment to consultation. Well, the minister's office didn't meet with any stakeholders, including the City of Oshawa, the port users, the port authority, members of the indigenous communities, the chamber of commerce, the employees, the unions, the importers and the shippers. No one from the ministry will actually come down to Oshawa to answer the numerous questions that we have, and no one will provide an explanation or a rationale for the amalgamation. The announcement is actually raising more questions than answers and, frankly, it's very difficult to give any answers.
These are the questions I'm getting: What problem will the amalgamation resolve? How will it affect our local businesses? How will the local interests be protected in the structuring of the new entity? How will contracts be affected? Why is this amalgamation in the best interests of Oshawa and Durham region? What marketing analysis and financial analysis support the amalgamation? Is there any plan for public hearings or town halls to allow Oshawa to provide input into this decision? No other ports are being amalgamated, and the question I'm getting is why. Was Toronto even considered? If so, why or why not?
This is something that we've spent millions of dollars on, over uncountable hours, to make sure that we have a locally controlled clean and green port. This announcement is causing more uncertainty and hampering decisions that will improve our economic competitiveness in moving forward.
There's been so much secrecy around the announcement. This is really important to Oshawa and Durham region and we deserve to at least be consulted before the decision is made. We participated in the government's ports modernization review, and the review hasn't even been released yet.
We have only until March 11 to submit comments, and the questions I'm getting are why, why now, and why does this need to be done so quickly. The city is respectfully asking for an extension of 90 days so that proper, respectful consultation can occur. The study that we would do here would be an important part of that. The mayor and all the stakeholders are willing to commute and to come up and be in front of the committee here if that would help.
With that, Madam Chair, I know that you have a really important meeting planned, but I would like to ask if we could get a vote on this very important issue for me locally, and if we could have a recorded vote, please.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
I'm going to make a suggestion. Given the fact that we have such a full table of people critical to sharing information with us, would the mover of the motion allow us, if the committee wishes, to hold it down until we complete the witnesses' testimony? We would deal with it in committee business following their presentations.
Oshawa, CPC
Madam Chair, respectfully, this is something that is extremely timely, and it's not going to take very long.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
All right. That's fine.
Is there any further discussion or debate?
I'll call the vote on the motion moved by Mr. Carrie.
Liberal
Matt Jeneroux Edmonton Riverbend, CPC
Madam Chair, it won't take up a lot of time. I just that that in terms of speeding along the meeting, on this side of the table we are okay with forgoing the opening comments of the two speakers since we have them in writing, if everyone else is.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Thank you, Mr. Jeneroux.
I'd like to welcome our witnesses today. From Transport Canada we have Michael Keenan, deputy minister, along with Kevin Brosseau, assistant deputy minister, safety and security; André Lapointe, assistant deputy minister, corporate services, and chief financial officer; and Anuradha Marisetti, assistant deputy minister, programs.
For the Office of Infrastructure of Canada, we have Kelly Gillis, deputy minister, infrastructure and communities; as well as Nathalie Bertrand, assistant deputy minister and chief financial officer, corporate services.
On behalf of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority, we have Bryce Phillips, chief executive officer; Heather Grondin, vice-president, communications and stakeholder relations; as well as Mike St. Amant, chief financial and administrative officer.
For the Canadian Transportation Agency, we have Scott Streiner, chair and chief executive officer; and Manon Fillion, chief corporate officer.
For The Jacques-Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc., we have Sandra Martel, interim chief executive officer; and Claude Lachance, senior director, administration.
Finally, on behalf of VIA Rail Canada Inc., we have Jacques Fauteux, director of government and community relations; and Patricia Jasmin, chief financial officer.
Welcome, everyone, to our committee. Thank you so very much for being here. I know that we asked all of you to take five minutes for your opening remarks, but given our limitations on time, perhaps I could ask you to be as brief as possible to the points that you know the committee is more anxious to hear about. Thank you very much.
We will go to Mr. Keenan, or whoever would like to go first.
Michael Keenan Deputy Minister, Department of Transport
Thank you, Madam Chair.
We are pleased to be here with our colleagues from Infrastructure Canada to take part in these discussions.
Officials from Transport Canada, the Crown corporations, agencies, and administrative tribunals that make up the Transport Canada portfolio work every day to make Canada's transportation system safer, more reliable, more efficient, and more environmentally responsible.
We are also committed to sound fiscal management and solid stewardship of government resources, while delivering results for Canadians.
ln the supplementary estimates (B) for 2018-19, Transport Canada is seeking an increase of $17.8 million. Most of that amount, $13.8 million, would help to complete upgrades at rural and remote airports, such as in Wabush, Newfoundland and Labrador; the Îles-de-la-Madeleine; Sandspit, Penticton, and Port Hardy, in British Columbia, as well as upgrades at the port of Gros-Cacouna, in Cacouna, Quebec.
Transport is also seeking to access $1.95 million from the revenues generated by the 2018 sale of some surplus St. Lawrence Seaway properties in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. These funds would be used to contribute to the assessment or remediation of federal contaminated sites in the Transport portfolio. This assessment and remediation work is necessary to reduce the risk to Canadians' health and to our environment.
Transport Canada's request also includes $1.3 million for the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline reconsideration. Transport Canada is participating as a technical expert on the marine shipping issues in both the National Energy Board and the indigenous consultation processes related to this proposed project.
In the interim estimates for 2019-20, Transport is seeking $380.7 million to cover the first quarter of the new fiscal year in advance of tabling of the main estimates.
VIA Rail is seeking $106.8 million in the supplementary estimates as well. This includes $105.3 million of new funding for fleet renewal and $1.5 million transferred from Transport Canada to advance due diligence work on VIA's high frequency rail proposal.
Funding for renewing VIA Rail's fleet was announced in budget 2018. The procurement process that VIA Rail ran last spring went quite quickly, and a supplier was selected in December. As a result, a procurement process was completed ahead of schedule. As a consequence of that, VIA now anticipates making payments earlier, and so some payments have been moved up to fiscal year 2018-19, which is actually good news.
Madam Chair, these are selected highlights of the requests from the organizations in Transport Canada's portfolio. I can say as deputy minister that we're fully committed to managing the Department of Transport Canada and working with the portfolio partners to ensure that the transportation system is safe, secure and environmentally sustainable and that it supports trade and economic growth.
My colleagues and I would be happy to answer questions as we proceed today.
Thank you very much.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Thank you, Mr. Keenan.
We will move to Ms. Gillis from the Office of Infrastructure of Canada.
Kelly Gillis Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
Good morning, and thank you for inviting me to speak before you today about Infrastructure Canada's supplementary estimates (B) and interim estimates.
To support the Government of Canada's priorities, Infrastructure Canada is seeking $150,000 in contribution funding to support research knowledge-sharing activities in innovative projects. These projects help strengthen the evidence base around the role that infrastructure can play in addressing economic, social and environmental issues.
We are also seeking to transfer $2.2 million from our operating vote to our capital vote to cover the development program for management tools that will support the delivery of programs under our bilateral agreements and accommodate requirements related to workplace 2.0.
We are also requesting $1.8 billion of cash to allow for prompt payment of contributions and amounts owing to the department until June 2019.
I would like now to provide a brief update of progress under the investing in Canada plan, the plan designed to help grow the economy, build inclusive communities and support a low-carbon green economy. The plan rolled out in two phases.
Under the Investing in Canada plan, Infrastructure Canada alone has approved over 4,700 projects worth over $18 billion. The department also continues to implement new processes to advance payments to our partners as construction takes place. The pilot project is currently underway with Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.
Progress billing means that we will make payments to provinces and territories based on project progress information provided to the department. It will result in payments that better align the flow of funds to construction activities.
This will result in the department reimbursing costs incurred in the year, rather than waiting until the end of the project or until provinces and territories decide to submit their claims to the department.
I would like to conclude by highlighting Infrastructure Canada's ongoing commitment to transparency and openness in the delivery of our investments.
The department is committed to regularly updating Canadians on the results of our investments. We do this in several ways: our online geomap provides information on all projects that have been announced and have a longitude and latitude component across the federal government under the Investing in Canada plan.
Our database tables show by department, by program, by funding base, by the number of projects approved, projects started and funds reimbursed to our partners to date.
The open data portal provides information on the progress of projects that Infrastructure Canada supported through our programs. We have posted a dashboard that tracks our progress being made on projects approved under our bilateral agreements. These tools are all updated regularly and provide Canadians with easy access to information about our investments.
Looking ahead to the new fiscal year, we will also be releasing a progress report which will contain further information on the details of the results achieved through our infrastructure investments under the plan.
We would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
We would be happy to answer any questions that you have.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Thank you, Ms. Gillis.
We will now move to Mr. Phillips, from the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority.
Bryce Phillips Chief Executive Officer, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority has previously appeared before this committee, and we find it a privilege to be here to speak about the Gordie Howe International Bridge project. We last appeared in November 2018. At that time I said it was a very exciting time for the bridge authority. It continues to be so, as we work through with our stakeholders to build the community benefits plan and to finalize the design and begin construction for the Gordie Howe International Bridge project.
As you are well aware, the WDBA is responsible for the delivery of this project, and managing the project agreement with our private sector partner, Bridging North America. It is a team of Canadian, American and international firms with both local experience and international experience in developing, implementing and delivering world-class transportation infrastructure.
Over the past few months, we have continued to work on essential preparatory activities. That includes utility relocations and other early works to ensure that the properties required for this large infrastructure project are ready and turned over to our partner to do the construction.
We've also undertaken to put robust project management and governance programs in place. That includes a framework that has technical working groups and oversight mechanisms, including decision-making bodies, with criteria to develop and guide them on their decisions. That goes along with other audit mechanisms to make sure that both we and Bridging North America meet the commitments of the project agreement and deliver on that project.
We continue to benchmark. We've benchmarked three different organizations, including the bridge in Montreal. We completed a benchmarking trip this week, as a matter of fact, at Metrolinx, to ensure that our staff understand the lessons learned from the different infrastructure projects around the country and the continent. We are also staffing up and recruiting the best in class to ensure that we meet our obligations and that BNA also meets its obligations.
Also, working with Bridging North America, we're consulting with the communities and stakeholders on both sides of the border to ensure that we have a comprehensive community benefits plan. Over the next few months, we'll announce the details of that plan.
We often refer to the Gordie Howe International Bridge project as a once-in-a-generation undertaking, and it literally is. The new bridge will transform the skyline. It will provide all Canadians with an efficient, seamless, redundant and integrated transportation corridor, so that you can move goods as a business from Montreal through the U.S. down to Florida with no stops. It will be an integrated project that will enhance jobs, both locally and for Canadians across the country.
The construction of the bridge is really four projects in one. It's the bridge itself, the ports of entry on both sides of the border, and then the extension out to the I-75 in the U.S. That will provide jobs not only for skilled workers—I think everybody understands there's a large opportunity for skilled workers—but what is probably not recognized are the jobs available for white-collar workers, the professionals who help develop the project, oversee the project and then once we get into operation, operate the bridge.
As I think everybody knows, Canada and the United States have one of the largest trading relationships in the world. The bridge project is essential to ensure that—
Chief Executive Officer, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority
I need about 30 seconds.
Chief Executive Officer, Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority
Great.
We are requesting that approximately $200 million in funding be made available for the Gordie Howe International Bridge project. That will allow us to finish the early works projects, the infrastructure relocation, and the turnover of land to our partner bridge in North America so that we can get on with the construction of the new bridge.
I welcome any questions you may have.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Thank you, all, very much. We appreciate all of you being here today.
We will move on to questions.
Mr. Jeneroux.
Edmonton Riverbend, CPC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you for being here.
I do have to begin by saying that it's very unfortunate the two ministers would not take the time to come to our committee. It's exclusively in their mandate letters to make themselves available to committee. They have again decided that they were busy for this particular day, so I guess 15 people are here to replace them.
I want to start my questions with the deputy minister of infrastructure.
I'm sure you have many dealings with SNC-Lavalin, including the Champlain Bridge and the Canada Infrastructure Bank's only project to date. I'm sure the fact that a deferred prosecution agreement was not secured is something that you, as the deputy minister of infrastructure, had some concerns about. Did you ever have a meeting or any conversations with any of your counterparts in other departments regarding SNC's case, either directly or indirectly?
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
I did not.
Edmonton Riverbend, CPC
Did anyone else in your department have a meeting or any conversations with other departments about SNC's situation?
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
We did not.
Edmonton Riverbend, CPC
Did you or anyone else in your department meet with SNC or representatives regarding the charges?