Transport Committee on Nov. 17th, 2016

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

I will.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

—so that Ms. Block can get on to her questions.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Well, I reject the premise. I reject it violently. I have never suggested that this committee or the Senate committee should be doing anything that I propose. I have been asked about what, possibly, the committee can look into, but yes, indeed, you are masters of your own destiny, as is the Senate committee.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Thank you very much.

In your speech in Montreal, you were long on acknowledging the issues that are universally recognized but short on solutions or commitments to act expeditiously. For example, on airport security, you said that you will look to set internationally competitive targets, but gave no timeline or commitment regarding the resources to get there. You also said that you will look at innovations but didn't identify which ones or by when. You said you would look at CATSA governance but once again failed to state what the issues were and by when you would look at them. On the passenger bill of rights, there were no specifics, such as the size of the financial penalties, the process by which they will be allocated, or who will determine what is caused by weather and what is the carrier's fault. More importantly, Canada is the fifth-most expensive country in the world for airline cost competitiveness, and your speech ignored this.

One other area I was very interested in and noted the absence of was that you had instructed the banks to study selling off Canada's airports and ports. I'm wondering if you could speak to the selling off of Canada's airports and ports and why you would have instructed that study to take place.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

With all due respect, I think you must have read a text that was different from the text I gave. I would encourage you to go back and look at the speech that I made. With respect to CATSA, with respect to a regime of rights for air travellers, and with respect to making airline travel more competitive, I outlined the goals of this government.

As you know—you're an experienced parliamentarian—the first thing you do is indicate in your intentions what you are going to do. You then need to go through the process of eventually legislating or changing regulations or deciding how best to do that, and that is exactly what we are going to be doing now.

We've been in government for only one year. Without patting ourselves on the back, I think we've done a remarkable amount of work in that first year in outlining the direction we will be taking, and that was the purpose of that speech.

The details will come in terms of improving screening time and in terms of the regime of rights, because we will look at what happens in other countries. I've answered all these questions many times for the media, and there's nothing mysterious about it.

We did take one initiative very quickly, and that was to provide an exemption to two airlines to continue their task of trying to create low-cost airlines with the 49% provision. We did a remarkable amount within the first year, but you know that it then takes time to implement, and that is something that is going to happen in the course of time.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

My question was about your direction to study the selling of Canada's airports and ports, but I'm going to now turn the rest of my time over to Mr. Berthold.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

I didn't give that direction.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

You have one minute left in your time.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

I would like you to tell me where I gave direction to sell our ports and airports. I would like you to tell me where I did that.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

I've turned my time over to Mr. Berthold.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much, Mr. Garneau.

I also have many questions about the Transportation 2030 strategic plan. I'm very concerned about the timeline. I would have liked to have known a few more details about it. This government makes a lot of very long-term commitments, but what are your objectives for the current mandate? I would have liked to have known. At the moment, we don't know the short-term timeline for Transportation 2030.

You talked about speeding up the review of the Railway Safety Act. I asked you a question in the House of Commons about the by-pass track in Lac-Mégantic, and you were open to shortening the deadlines if you could. I had an opportunity to speak with the mayor of Lac-Mégantic and the stakeholders, and it seems that some means are there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Make it short, Mr. Berthold.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Okay.

Unfortunately, it seems that the committee's Transport Canada representative is not the most effective at speeding up action related to the bypass track.

I would like to know whether you really are able to intervene, and whether the City of Lac-Mégantic is making suggestions…

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Berthold, I'm sorry, we're going way over time here.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

You're not going to get a third row of questioning in here, Mr. Berthold, this way.

Minister Garneau, could you please respond?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Our position hasn't changed. We have clearly said that the city is conducting this study with AECOM, and they control the process. If they can speed it up, we will get results sooner. We are not running the show with this study. It's up to the city to work with AECOM. If the work is done more quickly, all the better. We will get the results, which we can then use to determine how to proceed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Minister Garneau.

Mr. Fraser.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Minister, for being here this morning.

As a coastal member of Parliament from Nova Scotia, I watched with great interest when the coastal strategy was announced. In particular, you've mentioned at least twice this morning the role of abandoned vessels. I was hoping you could share some details on how the investment in the oceans protection plan will allow you to better identify owners and, more importantly, help in the removal of the abandoned vessels that are currently dotting the coasts of our nation.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Thank you for the question. In fact, a motion on this was put forward by one of our colleagues. There was one on the NDP side as well. People are concerned about abandoned vessels. There's no question about it.

From a transportation point of view, they can sometimes represent a hazard to navigation, so they directly involve us. My colleague, Minister LeBlanc is also concerned about—and this is in his bailiwick—whether some of the ships that have sunk represent an environmental concern.

Essentially, the primary tool we will be going after is to make sure that shipowners realize that they are responsible for the disposal of their ships. We'll look at measures to ensure that they are going to take the necessary measures in terms of their ownership. We'll look at the issue of insurance. We are going to make it very clear that if you own a vessel you are responsible for it right up until its disposal.

That is the primary approach we are taking. We are also going to accede to the Nairobi Convention, which deals with the responsibilities of shipowners with respect to disposing of ships at the end of their life.

We're also going to work with the provinces to try to find the best way to ensure that the whole process of ownership and registration takes into account this requirement for disposal. Obviously some of the provinces have ships and derelict vessels.

In terms of the funding for the hundreds of wrecks that exist, this is something we will probably approach on a gradual basis, because there are a large number and we can't do them all at once. It's a little bit like contaminated sites. There are thousands of contaminated sites in this country. We cannot address all of those contaminated sites in one shot, so we do some of them year by year. It's going to take a while.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Thank you very much.

I find, for whatever reason, that in the last number of years, not just in Canada but across the world, governments have not been particularly good at communicating to citizens the benefits of grand-scale economic strategies, whether they are trade-based, transportation-based, or otherwise.

I know there are going to be significant investments made in transportation corridors and transportation infrastructure. I wonder if you could perhaps give us some insight on how those investments that we're making—or will be making—will make a difference in the lives of Canadians and benefit people, not just those in global financial centres but those living in communities all across Canada.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

You're very right about the fact that we're probably not very good at communicating it, and I dare say that most Canadians don't think about trade corridors on a daily basis.

Let me give you a simple example, one that's often given. In some cases, where trains are carrying merchandise, those trains are long trains. They've become increasingly longer. Sometimes they are over two miles long, and sometimes they will go through communities and where there are railways crossings. When you're sitting at that railway crossing, because you have to let the train go by and a lot time is going by, you're thinking about the fact that this is having an effect on your day, because this train seems interminable.

That is an example of the fluidity of transport being affected. Those trains have to go slower as they go by these crossings, so they are affected as well. In some cases, the previous government—and I commend them for it—was involved with the transportation corridors initiative, which was initiated back in 2005 by Jean Lapierre. They put in place some very good measures, and some of those involved vertical separation at grade crossings. That allows the trains to go by more quickly, and it makes car passengers much better humoured. That's an example of where trade corridors make a difference, but there are many others I could give you. We have a long list of areas in which we can improve those trade corridors for the benefit of our economy.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

I'm sorry, Mr. Fraser, we're running out of time.

Minister Garneau, thank you very much for coming and for giving us a lot of very insightful information that will help us as we move forward on the committee.

I will now ask for any other officials to please come to the table so we can attempt to get some work done on the supplementary estimates prior to the vote being called.

Thank you very much again. We will suspend for a very short break while we get everybody lined up.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

We are dealing with supplementary estimates, pursuant to Standing Order 81(5), Supplementary Estimates (B) 2016-17: Votes 1b, 5b, 15b and 20b under Department of Transport, Votes 5b and 10b under Office of Infrastructure of Canada, Vote 1b under The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited, Vote 1b under The Jacques-Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc., Vote 1b under VIA Rail Canada Inc. and Vote 1b under Windsor- Detroit Bridge Authority, referred to the Committee on Thursday, November 3, 2016.

I will open it up under votes 1b. If the officials would like to make brief remarks, we would appreciate it, but we would like them to be available for as many questions as we can get in, prior to a vote being called.

[Michael Keenan, Deputy Minister, Department of Transport]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good morning. My name is Michael Keenan. I am delighted to be appearing before your committee. This is the first time I've had the opportunity to do so since I was appointed deputy minister of Transport Canada a few months ago.

Transport Canada's priority remains the safety and security of transportation systems in Canada. The most important item in the Supplementary Estimates (B) is related to the funding of rail safety activities, in keeping with the commitment made in the 2016 budget.

Specifically, Transport Canada is seeking support to continue enhancing rail safety by strengthening oversight of the rail and transportation of dangerous goods, improving rail safety awareness, and further supporting first responders' response to incidents.

There is a series of other requests related to the Federal Bridge Corporation, VIA Rail, and a number of administrative transfers in supplementary estimates (B). All of these resources will help to ensure that our transportation system is safe and secure, and that it reliably and efficiently moves goods and people across the country in an environmentally sustainable manner.

In the interest of time, I think I'll limit my introductory comments to that, other than to say

Thank you very much. I will be pleased to answer your questions.