Transport Committee on March 23rd, 2017

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

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

At the front end of my questioning, I do want to thank you for accommodating the minister for another day for a full hour. I appreciate that.

I do want to thank all of you for being here with us. I know it will be a short time with you, but thank you so much for being here. I look forward to hearing the answers to not only my questions but also my colleagues' many interesting questions, I'm sure.

Deputy Minister, I want to say how much I have appreciated working with you in the past, in your role with Natural Resources.

Based on the mains that we have in front of us, I note that Transport Canada's budget is significantly lower than it was in 2015-16. I'm wondering if you could give us an explanation of this, and advise us on whether Transport Canada has the resources it requires to fulfill your obligations.

[Michael Keenan]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank the member for her very kind comments. It's great to see her again.

In terms of the resources for 2017-18, on a strict mains-to-mains basis the numbers are up, but as the member correctly states, when you look at the mains and all the supplementaries from 2016-17, the numbers are down. I think at this point the department does anticipate receiving additional resources through supplementary estimates.

I'll give you one example. The ocean protection plan, which the government announced in November, is not reflected in the main estimates. We would anticipate seeing it in supplementary estimates (A) or (B) going forward. Should Parliament approve those estimates, they would provide significant additional resources for Transport Canada to carry out the activities and the responsibilities that have been described in public by the minister and the Prime Minister.

I think on a mains-to-mains basis, the numbers are up a bit. I cannot predict what the government will table for estimates, for supplementaries, and I can't predict what Parliament would vote, but it is likely that there would be significant additional resources flowing, based on the statements made in the budget and by the minister.

I would say, as the deputy head of the department, that we've been doing some very rigorous financial planning. I wouldn't say we have lots of extra cash flying around, but I feel that we have the resources we need to discharge the responsibilities that we currently have.

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

Thank you very much.

I just want to follow up on that. I understand that perhaps what was announced in the budget is not reflected in the mains as they are presented, but you've noted that there were some announcements made last fall, that you hope to be coming back to this committee, too, with some additional funding requests through the supplementary estimates. If you indicated last fall that there were some things you had in mind that Transport Canada would need additional funding for, why is that not included in the mains we are looking at today?

[Michael Keenan]

Madam Chair, I would use the example of the oceans protection plan because we're implicitly talking about that. An announcement was made by the Prime Minister in November, I believe. In the decision-making process of the government at that point, there had been a cabinet decision to proceed with initiatives as described by the Prime Minister, Minister LeBlanc, and Minister Garneau. That initiated a process of detailed implementation planning on the part of Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, Coast Guard, Natural Resources Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. That is working its way through the Treasury Board process and the detailed implementation planning is coming to fruition imminently.

Given the cycles of policy decisions and implementation planning, although it was moving fast for an initiative of its complexity, it was not at a point where Treasury Board officials could put it in the main estimates, so it has to flow in the supplementary estimates. We're optimistic it could make supplementary estimates (A), but definitely, in our view, it will make either supplementary estimates (A) or supplementary estimates (B). In the meantime, in anticipation of this, we're doing the preparatory work so that once it is approved by Parliament, we can move rapidly to implement the program.

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

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Badawey.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to continue where I left off in my other comments and questions based on some of the comments by Mr. Doherty. Once again, I appreciate those comments because they do emphasize the need to look at community needs at the local level, and, therefore, because we are great stewards of a disciplined asset management plan at the federal level, following that through by example and adding that good stewardship to the local level so they too continue to be good stewards of their assets.

Moving forward to future investments and aligning those investments with local strategies, based on the comments you made earlier, to dig down into the weeds a bit further with respect to the comment that Transport Canada will receive funding “to launch a Trade and Transportation Information System”, can you elaborate a bit on that?

Just as a heads-up, as an extension of your comments I'm sure, is it going to integrate a logistics information system?

[Michael Keenan]

I should clarify that in the proposed main estimates there is no funding for a trade and transportation corridor data initiative or an initiative on developing better intelligence on transportation system fluidity and logistics. There is, however, language in budget 2017 to do exactly that, and there are a couple of points on that.

First, I would point members to Minister Garneau's speech on November 3 laying out a proposed vision, what the minister refers to as “Transportation 2030”. He put a very strong emphasis on the importance of developing a trade and transportation corridor network in the country that is efficient, fluid, and intelligent. To do that, one requires better data on how that trade and transportation corridor network is functioning, real-time information on its performance, and real-time information on where there are problems and bottlenecks that need to be resolved.

Second, the thinking behind some of that is that if government can use its offices to pool the information and the data from the various operators in the network and make that generally available, it would allow all partners in the transportation value chain to make better decisions that create a more fluid transportation system and allow Canadian companies to get their products to global markets more reliably and at lower cost.

The program I think the member is referring to in budget 2017 is a targeted initiative on data to pull that information and make it publicly available so that all players in the transportation value chain are able to make more informed decisions that result in a more efficient transportation and logistics system for Canada.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Thank you.

Essentially, taking it a step further, you're going to feed the system that Minister Garneau has announced within the 2017 budget, extending that beyond Canada.

I just returned from Washington, and discussed with our colleagues across the border the need to also integrate a broader logistics system. Therefore, we would integrate the entire value chain across the border, in both Canada and the United States. We would follow the product and make it easier for the consumer to take full advantage of an integrated logistics system.

Can you comment on that?

[Michael Keenan]

Thank you. I would be happy to comment.

In fact, Minister Garneau has been to Washington and has met his counterpart at the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and key congressional leaders, both in the House and the Senate, essentially talking about what the member just described: the importance of facilitating transportation networks across the Canada-U.S. border, and the importance of finding a way to develop a border logistics system that has ever-higher levels of security and more efficient movement of goods and people.

Interestingly, facts always help. Minister Garneau sort of turned heads in Washington when he described how each and every day, 30,000 trucks, 4,600 train cars, and 400,000 people cross the Canada-U.S. border. There's a network across the border. I think the minister has secured a shared commitment from key U.S. leaders and office holders to work with Canadian counterparts to find a way to make that work.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Laverdière.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

My first questions are for Mr. Fauteux.

I would like to know if you have concluded your study on federal government assistance for the high-frequency rail plan.

[Jacques Fauteux]

Thank you for the question.

Madam Chair, as Ms. Laverdière mentioned we have completed our study on high-frequency rail, as we had announced via certain platforms at the end of the month of December. We have submitted it to our counterparts at Transport Canada at this time. We are working daily with them on the due diligence and to answer the questions that need answers in the context of this work.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Very well.

Could the committee have a copy of the study? Has it been released publicly?

[Jacques Fauteux]

I think it is important that we do our work first. When the study is complete and we have finished our talks, I am sure the government will choose the right time to release that information.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Thank you.

Are you considering funding the high-frequency train project through the new investment bank?

[Jacques Fauteux]

We are studying that at this time, madam. It would be premature for me to answer that question.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

My last question is addressed to the VIA Rail representatives. I want to take the opportunity to point out that I travel on your trains twice a week when the House is sitting.

There has been much talk about renewing the fleet of trains used in the Quebec-Windsor corridor. How is that progressing?

[Jacques Fauteux]

Things are going well. As I mentioned to some of your colleagues in the past, we are continuing to study the renewal of our aging fleet. It is almost 40 years old. Some of our trains are older than the person who is speaking to you right now.

However, we have to continue doing the study with our counterparts at Transport Canada. We submitted our plan and our options to the department. We are continuing to work with them on this.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Thank you very much.

My next question is addressed to a Transport Canada representative.

Are you still under special Treasury Board oversight? If so, what are the upcoming time frames? When will the situation change, in your opinion?

[Michael Keenan]

Thank you for the question.

Briefly, no, we are not subject to special Treasury Board supervision. Over the past year and a half, the department undertook a management review of the departmental finances. We have concluded the first step in that process.

With the advice and help of the special observer, we have done an extensive review of our finances. We have reduced our staffing level through attrition—through turnover, not through lay-offs—down to a level that equilibrates our financial resources. We have better aligned our resources with our objectives and priorities. We have implemented the recommendations of the special observer. His work is done, and he has departed.

I think it harks back to one of the opening questions. We're in a position where we have readjusted our spending. We've realigned it with our priorities are in a position now where we feel we can execute our responsibilities, as outlined in our documents and our estimates.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Regarding your expenses, in his December 2016 report, the Auditor General noted that there was a 59% decrease in fiscal 2016-17 in the operational budget for impact resistance tests. Why this cut to that sector in particular?

[Michael Keenan]

I'm not sure I understood. I'm sorry, but could you repeat the question?

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

This was in the December 2016 report of the Auditor General. The operational budget for impact resistance trials for automobiles, for instance, was reduced by 59%. That cut seems a bit surprising to us in the context of ensuring citizens' safety.

[Michael Keenan]

That's true, but I'd like to answer in English.

We have, from year to year, fluctuations in spending and oversight activities in particular areas for particular reasons. We did have the reduction that year in spending as described.

We look at these programs from a multi-year perspective. In some areas, you can have very sharp declines one year and very large increases the next year as we execute a program. In the case of motor vehicle safety testing, we did indeed have that decline. We are looking over a multi-year horizon at our activities for that and anticipate seeing fluctuations upwards again.

I would say, based on the Auditor General's report on motor vehicle safety testing, we are looking at how to better optimize that program. We have not made final decisions on how to manage it into the future. We see the centre in Blainville, Quebec as a key asset in our efforts to ensure the safety of Canadians in motor vehicles.