Evidence of meeting #6 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 transport.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
As of December 31, 2015—and we keep it on a quarterly basis, because they do turn over—we had 137 rail inspectors working in railway inspections.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Is that the highest number of inspectors you've had on record in your organization's history?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
We might have had 138 or 139 at some point in time, but generally speaking it's been—
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Give or take, it's about that.
How are they deployed across Canada?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
We have a series of regional offices across the country. We also have Transport Canada centres where particular staff are deployed. Depending on the mode of transport, they are located close to where the work is. In a city like Vancouver for example we have a “surface office”, as we call it, for railway and transportation of dangerous goods inspectors who work out of New Westminster, which is close to the railway yards. Then there are a number of other Transport Canada centres where staff work, and that is distributed across Canada. I'd have to get you a list, but there is a large group of people out in the regions.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
That's not specific to rail. Would that include trucking, as well?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
Transport Canada generally doesn't provide oversight of trucking directly. It's usually done through the provinces, depending on exactly what the particular mode and arrangement is.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
The Transportation Safety Board has a number of active rail recommendations, and some of them date back to 1991, specifically the fencing along railway rights-of-way. These are all on a watch list. There are 10 of them. Can you give us any sense as to how we're proceeding and any progress that has been made, because most of the assessments from the Transportation Safety Board are either “satisfactory intent”, or “satisfactory in part”? Given the age of some of these items on the watch list, they've been around for a while.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
If I may touch on the access control, as it's often called, or the fencing and the control of people trespassing at times onto railway tracks, that is an issue that has been looked at for some time. It is an issue that was a significant part of the discussions in the 2007-08 Railway Safety Act review in terms of jurisdiction and how to manage the appropriate jurisdiction.
The short story of that long process and those discussions, even at this committee, did lead to amendments that were made to the Railway Safety Act in 2013 that clarified jurisdiction and led to the grade crossing regulations, which is a similar area of issues. There is work going on in terms of looking at the appropriate methodology to address access control issues. Steps have been taken and work is being done on various fronts, but it is a complex issue.
Liberal
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Girard, earlier, you started providing the breakdown of figures regarding DOT-111. You also talked about new safer cars. You talked about 105,000 cars across North America and said that 5,000 of them have been removed from service in Canada. You also mentioned 7,500 cars.
I would like to know how the train registry—including the information on the number of trains and the description of each train for each company—is established by Transport Canada.
Do you have access to that information? What does the registration procedure involve?
Director General, Transport Dangerous Goods, Department of Transport
We work closely with our U.S. counterparts, including the Association of American Railroads, or AAR. They work with us on accounting for the changes made to the tank cars. We take care of providing oversight. Once regulations come into force, we have to ensure that, when cars are inspected, the changes are made and the cars are transporting the right dangerous goods. We ensure that the products are properly classified and marked, so that they can be publicly identified. We also make sure that the dangerous goods are placed in the appropriate car. That is part of the oversight process we provide.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Beyond oversight, can you know how many cars are travelling on Canadian railways, be they registered in Canada or in the U.S.? Is there such a registry?
Director General, Transport Dangerous Goods, Department of Transport
There isn't one in Canada. The AAR is working with us to help us quantify the number of tank cars in the North American network and find out which companies own them. We are also trying to determine whether the cars are DOT-111, CPC-1232, or other types of tank cars.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Do you have a registry that provides the exact number of cars in the network?
Director General, Transport Dangerous Goods, Department of Transport
We don't have that kind of a registry. We work with others.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Okay.
According to a recommendation on page 6 made on October 29, 2014, railway companies are compelled to, “conduct an assessment of safety and security risks and incorporate the use of a standardized number of handbrakes, ...”.
What is the standardized number of handbrakes that should be activated when a train is on a railway?
Director General, Rail Safety, Department of Transport
Transport Canada has not established a standardized number. However, in regulations the department published, it lists the factors—such as the railway grade and the weight of the train—to take into account to determine the required number of handbrakes to activate. A combination of factors determine how many handbrakes are necessary. Before being updated, the regulations simply stated that a sufficient number of handbrakes should be used. Since then, the requirement has been standardized by establishing a chart relative to the grade and the weight, making it possible to determine the minimum number of required handbrakes.
Conservative
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Madam Assistant Deputy Minister, my next question is more for you.
The conditional tense is used a lot in the various documents I have consulted. Am I right to think that Transport Canada does not really have the enforcement and control powers to impose fines on railway companies at fault? I will actually rephrase the question. Are you lacking the power you need to intervene?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
It is hard to generalize when it comes to this. However, I can say that the Railway Safety Act is very powerful. It is very useful in many respects and gives the department, inspectors and chief executive officers many possibilities in terms of reacting in all sorts of situations. It is a powerful piece of legislation.
Liberal
