Evidence of meeting #15 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 million.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
I will turn now to the Transport Canada representatives.
Talking about hiring, has additional funding been set aside in the budget to hire rail safety inspectors? Has that already been done?
Associate Deputy Minister, Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Department of Transport
We continue, throughout the year, to hire inspectors for the rail network, and also for the transportation of dangerous materials. This goes on all through the year. I think I could give you the most recent figures now, if you'll just give me a minute.
Conservative
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Perhaps you could send them to me later, when you have found them.
Associate Deputy Minister, Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Department of Transport
Very well. I appreciate that.
Conservative
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
I would like to have a status report on the situation.
As for the additional amounts you asked for for the adjustment, are these sums for rail safety part of those amounts, or were they already included in the budget?
Associate Deputy Minister, Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Department of Transport
You are talking about the rail sector?
Conservative
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
I am talking about the $143 million over three years for rail safety. Was that amount already included in your budget or did you just add it?
Associate Deputy Minister, Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Department of Transport
We just added it, but not in this budget. It is in supplementary estimates (B) or (C).
Conservative
Associate Deputy Minister, Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, Department of Transport
Yes.
Conservative
Conservative
Conservative
NDP
Linda Duncan NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Thank you very much.
I have a couple of follow-up questions.
Madam Laroche, instead of hiring 20 people in the department, why don't you just contract out to places like Smart Prosperity, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Sustainable Development Technology Canada, Clean Energy Canada? You have instant expertise there, and they reach out to people around the world in alternative technologies.
Associate Deputy Minister, Infrastructure Canada
That is an excellent question.
It's not necessarily the case that they will all be permanent, indeterminate hires.
We are in fact doing work with some of the organizations you mentioned. We look outside and we do contracting with other stakeholders to provide exactly that kind of expertise.
NDP
Linda Duncan NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Okay.
I probably only have one more minute.
I notice that transit is based on current ridership, not projected, and so cities like mine that are wanting to expand always lose out to other cities that already have ridership. What are you going to do to try to adjust that so that everybody can move to better public transit?
Associate Deputy Minister, Infrastructure Canada
I think this will probably come into discussion in phase two. The decision that the government took was to focus phase one on state of good repair and working with—
Associate Deputy Minister, Infrastructure Canada
I can't pronounce, because it hasn't been decided yet. That's going to be the purpose of the consultations on phase two.
NDP
Linda Duncan NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
The provinces and territories are going to submit their priorities, but the problem is, in many cases in our country we're relying on infrastructure that is of a regional nature.
For example, I just visited the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, in my riding. I didn't realize that it actually serves all of western Canada and the north, yet Alberta has to raise the funding to build that hospital.
I would encourage Infrastructure Canada to also start looking at what possibilities there are for future infrastructure investments by the federal government that will in fact serve a region of Canada.
