Transport Committee on March 9th, 2016

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

Thank you very much.

I have to add that I'm glad to hear you're talking about the border crossings and all of those things. In my riding, I have the second largest border crossing in the country, next to Windsor's, so it's quite significant.

I want to go back to the main estimates and to the 2015-16 balanced budget that we put forward. Then I look at the main estimates here. I'll just go through a few items.

The gateways and border crossings fund has been cut by half. The Asia-Pacific gateway and corridor transportation infrastructure fund has been cut by half. The centre of excellence has been cut by more than half. We also have the environmental stewardship of transportation and the clean air from transportation programs cut by more than half the budget as well.

Can you speak to why that would be?

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

We're talking about the main estimates here, and it's simply the fact that these programs, many of which spent over multiple years, have essentially spent all their money. We can't speculate here about the future, but for example, the Asia-Pacific corridor initiative had a certain amount of money put in by the previous government, and it's used up now.

That's quite separate from an exercise that's going to come forward in a couple of weeks, but the main estimates have to be ready by March 1, I think it is. They reflect the situation as it exists. Don't confuse it with the budget. It's just a reflection of the financial reality of the situation.

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

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Berthold.

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

Mr. Garneau, according to the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, there are many human factors, such as signalling and operator fatigue, that can cause rail accidents. These cases are especially delicate because when we talk about human factors—as we saw in the Lac-Mégantic area—these situations are really hard to control. It is difficult to enforce the regulations and ensure that they are fully and faithfully respected. What do you plan to do to address all the human factors that can cause rail accidents?

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

In the rail sector specifically, we recently decided to impose regulatory measures on CP regarding fatigue and the concept of a workday, because there is a maximum number of hours these people can work. We found that CP was not obeying the rules regarding the length of a workday. Breaking those rules can lead to fatigue problems.

We also just conducted an exam with respect to pilots. We are also examining that situation. It also depends on a number of factors. There is the issue of setting limits on a workday, but in some cases, we are also looking at a concept called

fatigue risk management system

in order to ensure that fatigue does not cause an accident.

In the trucking industry, in 2017, what is known as

electronic data loggers

are going to be mandatory. It is a tool to measure how long a truck driver has been driving. We recognize the importance of addressing the issue of fatigue.

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

Is there a difference between how the rules are enforced for large corporations—you mentioned CP—and for smaller companies? You can't be everywhere at once. Are they harder to enforce in the case of smaller companies?

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

It is different.

Let's talk about airlines. If we compare a large airline like Air Canada and a smaller company that has a few small planes and fewer passengers, of course there are different measures.

Laureen, can you expand a little on that?

[Laureen Kinney]

Sure.

In most of the modes of transportation there are regulations or rules that set out the hours of operation for trucking, or the pilot hours of work for aviation, etc. Those rules apply fairly prescriptively as a set of requirements. Within each industry they apply how they work within that—

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

Yes, but is it harder to ensure oversight?

[Laureen Kinney]

That's right. It's always a question of knowing how to ensure oversight. Things are working well, but it can be difficult, depending on the type of operation.

If it's a small company operating at a farther distance, then it's something you have to travel more frequently to. We do look at all of those things, and we have risk-based inspections to assess which ones have the higher risks.

[Jean-François Tremblay]

What matters, above and beyond the regulations, is that the corporate culture makes is possible to identify signs of fatigue. One of the most important factors is that there are people who are aware of these regulations and look for signs of fatigue among employees, given that this fatigue can be cumulative.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Fraser.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Thank you.

I think we were planning on sharing time. I didn't know who was first, but I'm happy to take a crack at it.

I want to come back to highway safety for a moment. It's important to my area and to the country as a whole.

There are significant portions of the Trans-Canada Highway that are essentially single-lane highway each way. Without having a divided highway, a car accident not only can be potentially fatal, but can cause dramatic inefficiencies when the road shuts down and have a negative impact on the environment with emissions. Fuel efficiency doesn't matter a whole lot when you're idling on a highway.

I'm wondering, in your deliberations with the provinces, if there'll be any special attention given to highway projects that might expand untwinned highways to build a divided highway.

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

Not specifically, not that come to mind.

The safety of our highways...some of it is provincial. We do work with the provinces.

Our focus is more on the design of the car so that it is safe and the regulations with respect to...or the requirements for people to.... The safe design of the car is our primary priority, whilst the safety of the road typically is more of a provincial responsibility, although we do have safety codes where we work together.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Building on that, I understand that a few weeks ago there was a significant recall of the Toyota RAV4s. Can you describe to me what kind of process, not necessarily specific to the RAV4 recall, Transport Canada undertakes to ensure the safety of vehicles that are on the highways?

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

Yes. I'm really proud of Transport Canada on that one, because they recreated what they considered to be the circumstances of the RAV4 crash that killed the backseat passengers, not those in the front. It was quite clear that the safety belt had ruptured. The reason for it, after recreating the situation, was that it rubbed against a sharp piece of metal, which is part of the seat frame in the back, and that caused it to break.

It is a Transport Canada team that's based in Blainville that did this whole recreation with dummies and the whole thing, and conclusively discovered the cause of it. It's led to the recall of 2.9 million RAVs. That's the kind of safety work that makes us all proud as Canadians, to see that Canada is contributing.

There are a lot of very specialized people in Transport Canada who do this kind of stuff. There are people who certify airplanes, like the C Series. It's a very technical place. When your job is car safety, you live that all day long and you are always looking at ways to make cars safe. That's why they're the people who also say if you bring a car back from another country, they'll know whether it conforms to Canada's safety regulations. I've been in that case myself, where I bought a car in the States and brought it back to Canada. I had to get it modified to conform to Canadian regulations.

That's an example of their doing their job and doing it well.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Excellent.

I expect there are only a few minutes left for Mr. Iacono.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Yes, very little, a minute and a half.

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

You recently ordered CP to comply with work rest rules when the company violated them. Do you have any reason to believe this is happening on a wider scale? What is the situation with VIA as well as with CN? What has been done? In other words, how often have work rest rules been reviewed in order to comply with more safety around train tracks?

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

I have no reason to believe that there are widespread violations. Obviously, we have to continue to inspect and to be vigilant to be sure that is the case. It does happen, but I don't think it's something that is happening on any large scale.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Mr. Iacono.

The time is expiring.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I don't get a third round?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

There's not enough time, Ms. Duncan.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Well, how fair is that? It's not.