Transport Committee on April 4th, 2019

[Vicky Kyriaco]

Yes.

Until the end of grade 6, students sit three per seat. From grade 7 to grade 12, there are no more than two.

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

That's based on average height and weight, I suppose?

[Vicky Kyriaco]

Exactly.

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

Some manufacturers and school boards have installed video cameras on buses to monitor what happens on them. Indeed, a school bus is also a place of socialization and initiation for students who change schools. In your opinion, who should ensure that students wear their seat belts, if that was the choice made? Should it be the responsibility of school bus drivers or schools? Should it be up to parents to teach it at home?

[Vicky Kyriaco]

Currently, it's the responsibility of drivers, who may receive demerit points if one of the children on their bus doesn't wear his or her seat belt. Drivers are responsible for children under 16 years of age on their bus, even if another person is on board to help the students buckle up. Provincial legislation should therefore be amended to exempt school bus drivers from this responsibility.

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

Who would you give this responsibility, though? That was what I meant with my question.

[Vicky Kyriaco]

We're asking ourselves the same question.

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

Do you think it should be the responsibility of the parents or the school?

[Vicky Kyriaco]

Ultimately, it should be the responsibility of the person responsible for transporting the children. Even if a monitor were on board the bus, the responsibility would remain that of the driver.

To meet the liability requirements of insurance companies, it is necessary to ensure that a child's seat belt is properly fastened if required. If the seat belt was not fastened, the person, school or school board responsible should then explain why they failed to fulfill this responsibility.

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

You are aware of a number of accidents involving school buses. In light of your experience, are most collisions head-on or rear-end? Is the concept of compartmentalization really working, although it isn't unanimously accepted, and are you aware of any side-on collisions that have caused significantly more damage?

[Vicky Kyriaco]

Most collisions occur at the back of the school bus when cars collide with it. Some side-on collisions involving cars or vans were slightly more serious because they caused the school bus to move, but no children were injured.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you, Monsieur Aubin.

Thank you, Ms. Kyriaco, for coming and sharing that information. I think it was very helpful to have an additional perspective on this issue. Thank you very much.

We will suspend for a moment until our other witness comes to the table.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I call the meeting back to order.

We have Tony Di Benedetto, Chief Executive Officer of Drone Delivery Canada.

You were here several years ago, within the three and a half years that I've been the chair. You sent in a letter asking to update the committee. We found a few minutes, so I'll turn it over to you for five minutes, please.

[Tony Di Benedetto, Chief Executive Officer, Drone Delivery Canada]

Thank you very much.

Madam Chair, members of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Madam Clerk, first of all I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you about Drone Delivery Canada, provide an update on the considerable commercial and technological advances we've made as a company in the last two years, and share new information regarding the sector and our latest mandate regarding service delivery to northern, rural and remote communities.

Since my last appearance at the committee, in November 2016, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. For those who were not present during my last visit, I will remind you that Drone Delivery Canada is a pioneering technology firm based out of Toronto, with a focus on designing, developing and implementing a commercially viable drone delivery system within the Canadian geography. Our group consists of highly seasoned technology professionals who have successfully built, owned and operated ventures in the Canadian marketplace. Drone Delivery Canada is one of the first federally certified drone delivery operators in Canada, and the first Canadian drone cargo operator recognized by Transport Canada as a compliant operator.

In the near future, drones will be able to deliver products faster, more easily and more cheaply, allowing organizations to grow their revenues and bottom lines. Regulatory bodies continue to move forward on the regulatory frameworks of commercial drone use, and we are seeing a willingness on the part of Transport Canada to work towards the industry and embrace innovation.

Industries that would utilize drone delivery services are endless. They can include logistics providers, postal delivery providers, first responders, parts distribution, medical supply delivery, and overall distribution.

DDC's drone service operates between fixed end points called depots. The drones are highly automated and are controlled through a centrally managed software system at a mission control centre, which can be located where the aircraft is operating or at DDC's main operation centre near Toronto. Trained and licensed supervisory pilots located at mission control oversee all flights and can intervene at any time should there be a need to do so.

In February 2018, DDC was granted a compliant operator special flight operations certificate by Transport Canada, allowing us to operate across Canada. DDC's first commercial aircraft, the X1000 Sparrow, was deemed compliant with Transport Canada's standards in December 2017. It is capable of carrying 4.5 kilos of payload over a potential distance of 20 kilometres.

Our recently announced heavy-lifting Condor drone will soon start testing and will be able to carry up to 180 kilos of cargo with a potential range of 150 kilometres.

It is also important to note that we have completed a significant amount of “beyond visual line of sight” testing under the supervision of Transport Canada. We have signed a $2.5-million commercial agreement and are currently in advanced negotiations for multiple commercial agreements in 2019. We are in discussions with 50 customers, including retailers, cargo networks, hospital groups, couriers, logistic service providers, as well as various remote communities in Canada. We have agreements with the Moose Cree First Nation, NAPA Auto Parts, Peel region paramedics, and many more. We're in partnership with Toyota Tsusho, and in advanced discussion with several cargo carriers.

We are working on a second drone cargo network in the Northwest Territories. We see tremendous opportunities to address the needs of remote communities, including transportation of goods deemed essential for economic growth, such as food and medical equipment. Our intention is to serve 200 northern and remote communities across the country over the next five years. This is very good news for Canada, especially for communities in the north that continuously struggle hard with the lack of roads and other transportation modes.

Those communities, with mostly indigenous people, have access to food and goods; however, it is at prohibitive prices. The high cost of food is unacceptable in a country like ours, where everybody should be equal. I saw a CBC news article the other day that a mother of four in Iqaluit had just purchased a 24-pack of bottled water for $29.99 at a grocery store. Meanwhile, in Winnipeg a 24-pack costs just $4.49. This is not acceptable. I've seen this also in Moosonee, where we are working closely with the Moose Cree First Nation to build the first affordable year-round cargo delivery service to operate in the region.

Affordability is a key component of our value proposition. The customer value of using low-cost, highly automated drones over short flight paths would be substantially better than that of competing services using helicopters. The service will begin by offering small-package delivery service on fixed routes, but it is expected to add increased distances and payload capacity as new, heavier-lifting drone models become approved by Transport Canada.

The business is to be community-owned and operated by the Moose Cree First Nation. Although financial forecasts show the potential for profitability as the service expands, the primary objective of the business is to create social benefit to the community. The benefits to the community from the creation of a new year-round transportation infrastructure include better communication, new employment opportunities, a platform for new businesses to serve the community, better health care and more education options for the youth.

Through increased productivity and technological innovation, growth within the Canadian supply chains and well-paying job creation in communities, as well as social, health and environmental benefits, projects in northern and indigenous communities will bring public economic and innovation benefits. Finally, Drone Delivery Canada will also contribute to reduced gas emissions. It will help to reduce diesel use in remote indigenous communities.

We ask Transport Canada and the federal government to work with us to help communities in the north have a better life.

To conclude, I will say that just like a railway in the sky, Drone Delivery Canada brings a new dimension to transportation. The 19th century was that of trains, and the 20th century was that of cars. The 21st century will be that of drones.

Thank you for your attention. I'm ready to take your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Mr. Di Benedetto.

On for our first round of questioning is Mr. Kmiec.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Thank you very much for your presentation, and thanks for returning to the committee. I'm not a regular member of the committee, but I understand that you have requested to return. When Minister Garneau put out the original rules on drones, in my riding I had a lot of push-back from people who were unhappy, both businesses and individuals. I wrote petitions. I helped my constituents. I wrote letters.

Unfortunately, today I've come here to move a motion on behalf of one of my constituents. Notice was given on November 22, 2018. I'm going to read it quickly into the record, because I want this to come to a vote on behalf of my constituent Tim Reed.

That the Committee undertake a study on allowing Canadians to bring their legally owned, U.S.-registered and plated passenger vehicles into Canada for a defined temporary period, in the same manner that U.S. citizens may do in Canada, without having to pay any taxes, duties or importation fees; that the committee report its findings to the House no later than 90 sitting days following adoption of this motion; that the committee make recommendations on actions the Government of Canada should undertake to adopt a border control system that allows for the temporary use of American-plated vehicles by Canadian citizens; that no less than two meetings of the Committee be dedicated to this study; and that the Committee request that the Government table a comprehensive response to its report.

I did give notice of it. I understand that there have been conversations outside of the committee about potentially doing this already. The reason I'm bringing it is that.... It's a small niche issue, and I recognize that. I'm going to reference a few letters and responses I have actually received from the minister and from the Library of Parliament, as well as a petition response I got, just to show you that I don't come here randomly proposing a committee study. I have done my homework. I have looked into different avenues, including private members' business, to try to address this issue. Every single avenue has been blocked off to me, so to speak, because I think only this committee could actually resolve the problem I have.

My constituent wrote to the minister and received a response—

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

On a point of order, we have a witness here. We have a subject, and we really do need to respect the witness who is present. Is there another time we can do this? Can we add some time at the end of our meeting to give you that opportunity, Mr. Kmiec? We have Mr. Di Benedetto here.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

No, I've moved the motion, so it's tabled. It's before the committee now. That's my understanding of the rules.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Those clearly are the rules that are there. Mr. Kmiec has the floor and he's speaking to the motion.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Can I just say this? I think it's an interesting motion. I'm not sure everybody truly understands it, so maybe your comments could be to help the committee understand it.

I'm sorry, Mr. Di Benedetto, but this is a process.

[Tony Di Benedetto]

That's fine.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

If you could help us understand it better, you'd have a better chance of success.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I'll give you an example, based on Mr. Reed's experience. This would be for a Canadian who owns an American vehicle.

I live in Alberta, and there are a lot of Albertans who own cottages in Montana. For example, you own an American-plated Montana Jeep. You decide you are going to do repairs on it and put it on a trailer and try to drive it back to, say, Lethbridge or Calgary, to your own shop perhaps. There are quite a few people in my riding who like to do that.

You're not allowed to bring your Jeep into Canada without formally importing it and then paying a 6.1% import duty as if you are going to bring it into Canada and keep it here. That's not what many of my constituents and Mr. Reed want to do; they want to temporarily bring their vehicles into Canada.

Currently, there are no rules that allow someone to do that without paying the full import fee. That has been confirmed to me by the Library of Parliament, and by the Minister of Transport and civil servants in Transport Canada.

As I said, it's a very niche issue—very, very unusual. If it's a Canadian citizen who owns the vehicle, they should be allowed to bring in this American-plated vehicle for just a few days. I don't imagine that people bring them in for months on end for regular residential or commercial use. It would just be for doing repairs or upgrades to the vehicle and then sending it back across the border.

You could impose a system of fines on individuals who break the rules. It would be very easy to track the vehicles, because at the border you'd collect all the regular information.

Mr. Reed proposed a few systems on this. The minister responded to him and said that non-compliant vehicles—these are older vehicles, typically pre-1979—wouldn't be allowed into the country because they're not considered safe. I reminded the minister in a separate communication that we're talking about compliant vehicles.

For the Jeep example I gave you, a regular vehicle used on the road.... If you're like me, you like going to the back country where there is no cellphone service and nothing really out there. You take your Jeep. You might damage it while going bogging. You're going to bring it back to your place. If you do it in Montana and you don't want to pay exorbitant mechanics fees or don't have the tools to do it there, you'd perhaps bring it back to your home in Canada, fix it there, and then take it back to the United States, where it belongs, because it's plated in an American jurisdiction.

I mentioned the response from the minister, from February 26, 2016, which mentions this. I just want to read to you a short paragraph from the minister:

As you pointed out, the temporary use of a U.S.-certified and registered vehicle in Canada by a Canadian citizen is an infrequent occurrence. However, as this option may be of interest to some Canadians, Transport Canada officials will review options to possibly address this situation. Any potential solution would require legislative changes and would take time to develop, approve, communicate and implement.

However, I have had no news whatsoever, and there is no information available anywhere on whether that review has taken place. The minister has not told me—

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Tom, what was the date on that?