Evidence of meeting #14 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 rail.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Chief Compliance Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
That's correct.
Number one, it's important to understand that those are relatively new provisions that have come with the passage of the Safe and Accountable Rail Act just under a year ago. Certainly since that time, we have yet to receive any applications under that provision.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
We are presently looking at how to improve rail safety. In a perfect world, what recommendations would you like to see implemented?
Chief Compliance Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
I trust that committee members will appreciate that it's really not in our purview to make recommendations in that regard.
That said, what we do through our annual report is to publish what our operations have been. I think that what you'll see with regard to how we handle disputes, and also with regard to the issuance of certificates of fitness, is that our primary focus is on the viability of the industry, on the service to Canadians, including grain farmers' access to fair rail. We're not in a position to be making recommendations on safety, since that's not in our primary purview.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
Perfect.
With respect to railway crossings, in your remarks you indicated that when a dispute over cost arises, it can be referred to you before, during, or after construction. Is there ever a delay in actually performing work on a crossing before it gets to the dispute resolution process?
Chief Compliance Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
Do you mean if works are delayed because of the dispute?
Chief Compliance Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
I'd have to get back to you on that. Maybe our dispute resolutions branch would have some information on that, but I don't know.
Chief Strategy Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
In terms of railway crossings, we do publish a guideline that's updated annually that provides a breakdown between municipalities, provinces, and railway companies. That has been very useful in keeping the disputes out of the agency and having the parties come to an agreement.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
If you're going to follow up, can you find out whether the economics of a project has ever caused people to not implement safety measures at railway crossings?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Yes, you are.
We're doing very well with our time, we still have five minutes left. Are there any further questions on this side? If not, I'll go over to Ms. Block.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
I join my colleagues in welcoming you here today.
I have a number of questions. I will focus them on railway relocation and the railway crossings and cost apportionment.
Did you provide a submission to the Emerson review?
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
Would that be because of the role you play within...?
Chief Strategy Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
I should have elaborated on that, as opposed to just saying no. It has to do with the fact that we have an opportunity through our annual report to provide our advice to the minister. That's the route the agency typically takes.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
My second question—albeit it's not related to the two points I said I wanted to talk about—is about common carrier obligations. Would any part of what your agency does be linked to that issue?
Chief Strategy Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
Part and parcel of what we do is under the Canada Transportation Act. There is a common carrier provision, and it's our responsibility to ensure that the railways comply with that provision.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
In your comments you spoke about railway relocation being the third mandate of your organization. You spoke to the fact that you can order a railway company to do such things as remove railway structures, build new facilities, and stop operating. But then you went on to say, “However, these powers may be used only when certain criteria are met, including a determination by the agency that any such relocation or rerouting would occur at no net cost to the railway company.
What other criteria are taken into consideration and why? You know that we're in the middle of this railway study and hope to be going to Lac-Mégantic. Certainly, we understand that communities have been built around railways, but the fact of railways running through communities is now a huge issue that's creating some angst. Why is that a priority criterion when it comes to the relocation of railways?
Chief Compliance Officer, Canadian Transportation Agency
Madam Chair, the best way to put it is that it's really more of an attempt to balance interests. It's certainly not a priority from our perspective. What we're trying to do at the same time is enabling the operation of the railway in a manner that serves the broad subset of public interests, of which safety is one, and is managed by Transport Canada, and obviously is one of the most importance and interest. At the same time, we work to ensure that it's done in an effective manner and that the goods move and get to market. The intention is to encourage the parties to negotiate those matters ahead of time.
In terms of the specific things that we can mandate a party or a railway to do, it's more of an example. We try not to predefine the types of interventions or investments or decommissionings that we can see happen. We want the parties to get together and come up with an accepted plan. Importantly, that's where the time provisions become helpful, to encourage the consultants to work on behalf of the municipalities and the province, and the consultants and the railways to come to terms on what serves the broader, longer-term interest of all parties.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
You don't want to predetermine those conversations, and I think I heard you say that the best agreement is the one that the two parties arrive at themselves. What basic criteria would you provide to the parties when they are looking at negotiating a railway relocation?
