Transport Committee on Feb. 27th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Could we have a short answer, Minister?

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

Actually, the tax varies based on whether the flights are international or national. We could discuss that further.

In the case of NAV CANADA, it is responsible for the safe control of Canadian airspace. That is its job, its responsibility. At one time it belonged to Transport Canada. We were responsible for regulating it. To regulate an organization that already belongs to us is not a good thing. That kind of independence is necessary.

Having said that, I want to point out that NAV CANADA is recognized worldwide for the quality of its work when it comes to air traffic control.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Barsalou-Duval.

Ms. Ashton.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Minister, on February 18, two days after you lifted your ministerial order, a CN train went off the tracks just south of Emo, Ontario. A total of 31 rail cars went off the tracks, 26 of which were tankers, and five leaked crude oil. This is according to the safety board.

People in Emo were very frightened by what happened. People in communities across the country, including those in Saskatchewan, are asking, why not make permanent what you made temporary? As we know, only two days later, the derailment in Emo took place, a derailment that could have been much worse.

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

The ministerial order that I put in place only goes to March 31, and during that period of time we are working with CN and CP on a whole bunch of other safety-related measures, which will come into application starting on April 1.

What you have seen with respect to lower speeds is only part of the whole thing. I am very concerned that there are too many derailments in this country, and that is the discussion we are having with CN and CP.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

I appreciate that you're taking measures on this front. We certainly hope that urgent action is taken.

Also on the point of rail safety, one of the crashes in Saskatchewan involved, I believe, entirely the new TC-117 cars. They derailed and exploded. Canadians were told that these cars were safe. Obviously they are not. What is your government doing in reaction to this very troubling news?

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

We did not say they were safe. We said they were safer; there's a difference. If in your car you drive at 60 miles per hour into a wall, you're not going to—

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

In terms of action, I'm looking to hear—

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

Okay. What we did was accelerate the transition from the older DOT-111s to the new TC-117 model. The trains go at a certain speed, and there cannot be a guarantee that you're not going to have a puncture or a leak at certain speeds. They are, though, safer than the old ones, and that is definitely a move in the right direction.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Ms. Ashton.

Minister Garneau, thank you for your time today. We appreciate as well your team's being here with the committee.

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

It's my pleasure.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Members, we're now going to suspend.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Members, I shall reconvene.

Minister McKenna, welcome to the committee.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Hello.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

I appreciate your making time today. I know you have a tight schedule, and I hear yours is the only plane that actually made it into Ottawa today.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mine was the one plane. It was amazing.

I'm going to talk to the Minister of Environment, because the weather has failed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Ms. Gillis, thank you for being here as well. It's good to have the team out.

Minister McKenna, you have 20 minutes. The floor is yours.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Thank you very much. I'm thrilled to be here.

This is my first appearance before the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities as the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities.

I'd like to start by congratulating the newly elected chair and vice-chairs and thanking all of you for your efforts on behalf of Canadians.

I'm here with my excellent deputy, Kelly Gillis, whom I've leaned on heavily as I've been getting up to speed in this important portfolio.

As you all know, infrastructure impacts every single Canadian every single day—the way we work, do business, live, play; it determines how much time we're able to spend with our families, how we manage a sustainable way of life and what type of communities we leave to our children and grandchildren.

I'm here today to speak with you and answer your questions about the progress we have made in delivering the government's historic investing in Canada plan.

When we first took office in 2015, we recognized that our country faced a historic challenge and opportunity, an opportunity to use low interest rates, strong federal finances and the challenge of the energy transition at a time of climate change to invest in transformative projects like public transit, high-speed broadband and renewable energy.

Countless studies have pointed to clean and low-carbon infrastructure investments as one of the best ways to prepare for the economy of the future, and the finance minister's economic advisory council identified infrastructure as the most powerful driver for growth and productivity, both in the short term and in the long term.

The flip side, presented by groups such as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Insurance Bureau of Canada, is that significant investments in resilient infrastructure can save us billions of dollars.

We spoke with Canadians in communities across the country. We spoke with indigenous partners, provincial, territorial and municipal leaders, and countless stakeholders.

They told us what they needed for their communities and their residents to be successful, and we listened. It was with this important feedback in mind that we designed the investing in Canada plan.

The plan includes big cities and smaller communities, suburban, rural and northern, and it's designed to create good jobs and grow the economy, invest in cleaner air and water, modern and reliable public transit, resilient infrastructure, and sustainable communities. And we are making tremendous progress.

The Government of Canada has already committed over $65.1 billion in federal funding through the investing in Canada plan, funding more than 52,000 projects, most of which are either under way or completed.

We have invested $2.2 million in clean drinking water infrastructure in Plessisville, in your riding, Mr. Berthold. Federal funding has been invested in a pumping station and wastewater upgrades in Vercheres, in your riding, Mr. Barsalou-Duval.

There is also the $12 million invested in Prince Rupert's drinking water system in your riding, Mr. Bachrach.

Our government has been investing in projects that are creating good jobs and supporting our nation's ongoing transition to a clean-growth economy, and that was just the beginning, which brings us to today.

Our investments focus on five main priorities. These are public transit, green, social, trade and transportation, and rural and northern communities' infrastructure. The goal is to improve Canadians' quality of life.

That's why we're committed to working with provinces and territories to purchase 5,000 zero-emission school and transit buses over the next five years, and it's why all new public transit funding will be zero-emission options by 2023.

We are very fortunate to have Canadian companies who are world leaders in electric buses, like Nova Bus and New Flyer.

With the capacity and the know-how to build those electric buses right here in Canada, this is a win-win.

Since 2015, Canadians have created approximately 80,000 jobs in the infrastructure sector, which has contributed significantly to the million-plus jobs created across Canada on our government's watch.

In fact, I'd like to see us promote Canadian companies that use low-carbon building materials, such as CarbonCure Technologies from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, or cross-laminated timber from Chantiers Chibougamau in Quebec, or carbon-free aluminium from Elysis, a Montreal-based joint venture.

Just like infrastructure and the economy go together, so too, do infrastructure and the environment.

Through bilateral agreements with each of the provinces and territories, we are investing over $33 billion across the country.

And we're encouraging them to work closely with their municipalities, their communities, and their municipal associations to bring projects forward quickly for federal approvals so no one misses a construction season.

We want Canadians to see and feel the benefits of these projects as quickly as possible.

In addition to my provincial and territorial counterparts, as well as indigenous leaders, I met recently with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the big city mayors' caucus, TransLink mayors in British Columbia and many other stakeholders across the country to hear about how we can improve their communities, to listen to their priorities and to see the impact our investments are having. The progress is real, such as the 88 on-reserve long-term drinking water advisories that we have eliminated across Canada, or the more than 900 rural and remote communities that are now benefiting from improved high-speed Internet access.

Consider the new Gordie Howe International Bridge, which will connect Windsor to Detroit, Michigan in 2024, vastly improving Canada’s single busiest trade artery, which handles about a quarter of all Canada-U.S. bilateral trade every year.

Or the new Samuel De Champlain Bridge in Montreal that connects commuters, cyclists, pedestrians and tourists, not to mention providing a modern link that allows for $20 billion of international trade each year.

The list goes on, but the work doesn’t stop. For example, we are committed to moving forward on clean power to help support rural and remote communities transition from diesel power to clean, renewable and reliable energy. We’re also working with the Canada Infrastructure Bank and others to deliver high-speed Internet access to every home and business across the country by 2030, and we will support major nation-building projects through a national infrastructure fund, projects that connect people and businesses and help raise the standard of living for Canadians in significant and long-lasting ways.

Thinking long-term, we recognize that it’s much cheaper to build now for a changing climate than to deal with the impacts later. That's the goal of our disaster mitigation and adaptation fund. When natural disasters strike, sending out our military to sandbag after flooding or to put out fires is far less effective than investing to mitigate the effects of disasters before they even happen. The return on investment from disaster mitigation has been estimated to range anywhere from six dollars of savings for every dollar invested to as much as $14.

I have three key priorities: to work with partners to get projects built quickly; to leverage the power of infrastructure to grow our economy, create jobs and boost productivity; and to ensure that our projects help build a more resilient, low-carbon future.

The bottom line is that I see infrastructure not only as a fantastic nation-building exercise, but also as our chance to build the strong, prosperous Canada of tomorrow. When Canada builds, Canada grows.

I'd like to thank the members of the committee for the opportunity to update you on the important work we are doing to benefit Canadians. I'm pleased to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Minister.

Mr. Berthold.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, Madam Minister. It is a pleasure to see you. First, let me congratulate you on your French. It is always nice to hear you answer questions in French.

Madam Minister, your mandate letter seems to be very elaborate. There are many things, many objectives and, unfortunately, many slogans. However, it does not have many tangible actions and measures showing how you are going to achieve all that. That seems a bit contradictory to me because, in terms of infrastructure, what you have managed to do as a government since 2015 does not necessarily measure up to the promises made, particularly during the 2015 election campaign.

In your mandate letter, one thing concerns me in particular. You say that: “Funds that are not designated for specific approved projects by the end of 2021 will be reinvested directly in communities through a top up of the federal Gas Tax Fund.”

Is that not an acknowledgement that your government has failed, because you are not able to carry out projects and agree with the provinces to ensure that the money goes directly to where it is supposed to go?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Thank you very much for your question, which is very important.

We have already invested in 52,000 projects.

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

You have mentioned all those figures before, Ms. McKenna.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I want to answer your question.

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

My question is whether this is an admission of failure. Is it because you don't think you are able to work with the provinces?

You were forced to threaten, to include this measure in your mandate letter.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Personally, I would very much like to see more projects from the provinces. Only three provinces have submitted 10% of the projects that represent money.