Transport Committee on May 30th, 2016

[Yazmine Laroche]

Thank you for the question.

Yes, some of them are new hires, and that's to reflect the increase in the volume of the work that is going to be done over the next several years. It's also, in part, related to the fact that infrastructure doesn't have an A-base. All of our funding comes from programs. In the 2014 new building Canada fund, we were given a funding profile of operating funds, which is starting to decrease now. At the same moment, we have been asked to accelerate delivery of our existing infrastructure programs, to have all of the money committed in the next two years, as well as to deliver on this new round and this new investment the government has announced in infrastructure. It helps us with internal capacity and helps to make sure we can get the money flowing as quickly as possible, but we can also exercise good due diligence around the projects.

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

Out of curiosity, what kind of people would be hired and with what skills?

[Yazmine Laroche]

We have an interesting range of skill sets among our staff. Some of them are engineers. Some of them are urban planners. Some of them come from the realm of public administration, and some have come to us from municipalities and have transferred in. It's quite a wide range of skill sets. We have people with a lot of programmatic experience in terms of delivering grants and contributions programs. We also have some excellent policy people who have specialized in areas like public transit or green infrastructure. It's quite a mix.

I would point out that it's a small department when considering the volume of money that's being invested. Our operating expenses are 1.3% of the overall budget for the department, which is significantly lower than any other department.

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

Thank you for that.

I want to talk about these 379 contaminated sites that fall under the care of Transport Canada. Is there a plan that suggests how long it'll take to remediate all of these sites?

[Helena Borges]

We don't have a plan for how long. It depends on how much money we have to deal with them.

We do have a lot of obligations that are also in remote areas of the country. We have some in the north. When you're trying to remediate an airport site that we used to own in northern Canada, the season for work is relatively short. You have to usually start in about May, or June at the latest, and by September you're closing up. There are a bunch of factors that go into that determination and—

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

Okay. I have one extra question here and my time is almost out.

You mentioned that you'll be decontaminating a site, and then, the words you used, “turning it over to a municipality”. Obviously, when you decontaminate and remediate a site, its value goes up. We don't just give this away, do we?

[Helena Borges]

It depends on the site. For example, if it was a site that we transferred as part of an airport to a municipality, we kept the residual obligation to decontaminate the site, and the airport was transferred earlier, then that land is already municipal land. We're cleaning it up and they get it. If it's a site that is still in our possession, we will clean it up, and then we sell it according to the federal real property policies. We put them up for sale, and there's an order in terms of whom we offer it to: the provinces first, municipalities second, and private sector last.

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

Do I have...?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Iacono was trying to get in with a question.

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

Go ahead. I'm sorry.

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

My question is addressed to VIA Rail.

Budget 2016 proposed $7.7 million for support in technical studies and other pre-procurement activities related to the renewal of VIA Rail's fleet, also for safety upgrades and grade crossings on tracks owned by VIA, and for investments and improved security at VIA stations.

Also proposed in that budget is $34 million on a cash basis to VIA Rail for improvements at stations and maintenance centres, including upgrades to mechanical and electrical systems and roof replacements.

You're requesting another $6.9 million to maintain and upgrade assets. What assets are we talking about? How is this additional $6.9 million proposed in these supplementary estimates expected to be spent?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

A short answer, if that's possible.

[Patricia Jasmin, Chief Financial Officer, VIA Rail Canada Inc.]

Sure. The $6.8 million is actually the first tier of the $34 million we will be investing in the maintenance centres and in the stations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm sorry. You're time is up, Mr. Iacono.

Ms. Watts.

[Dianne Lynn Watts, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Thank you very much, and thank you, witnesses, for being here to answer all our questions.

Some of my questions have been asked, but I do want to drill down a little bit on the signed agreements with the provinces. The priorities are going to be negotiated by the province with municipalities; an agreement is going to be made, and then that's going to be signed with the federal government. Is that correct?

[Yazmine Laroche]

Yes.

[Dianne Lynn Watts, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

What's different from what it has always been?

[Yazmine Laroche]

I'd say it's a little bit faster. We got a lot of feedback from provinces and territories on some of our earlier programs that it took a long time before we could actually get to an agreement on a particular project. That had a lot to do with some of our internal processes, so what we have tried to do is lighten up on the internal processes. For example, rather than asking for a detailed business case on every single project that's going to be submitted, we're asking provinces to submit lists.

[Dianne Lynn Watts, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Right, but that's not different from what was done previously, because I was a mayor for a decade, and I know that's exactly how we worked and got a number of projects through.

The issue we all came up against was that the province had one idea of what their priorities were, and the cities and municipalities had another idea of what their priorities were, and then you would have significant conflict. That is going on right now, and I think that is probably your biggest problem.

The province is going to hand you a list. Are you going back to the municipalities and consulting with them to see if they agree with it? I probably know the answer to that, but that has been the problem for 18 years that I know of.

In phase one there is some money for planning projects for a significant piece of infrastructure. If those projects pass through the planning process and get funding for planning, then are they guaranteed in phase two funding for the project?

[Yazmine Laroche]

I'll start with that one first. I would say there's no guarantee in terms of phase two funding, because in phase two, the parameters of the program haven't been designed yet.

[Dianne Lynn Watts, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Then why would you spend money on designing a project?

[Yazmine Laroche]

I would think most municipalities that are envisaging large transit initiatives do have planning investments that need to be made.

[Dianne Lynn Watts, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Yes.

[Yazmine Laroche]

This is a way of providing upfront funding for them. There's never a guarantee that there will be federal funding for any transit project, but this is a way at least of helping municipalities do some of their planning.

[Dianne Lynn Watts, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

I get that. I'm wondering if it could be a whole waste of money if they are not going to be looked at down the road.

I know we're tight for time here, so my last question is about the 50% in terms of the federal funding. I've yet to see a defined model in terms of the feds are going to pay 50%. How is the other piece broken out?