Transport Committee on Feb. 27th, 2020

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Minister, can you confirm to us how many arrests have been made and how many charges have been levied with respect to the damages? Yesterday we saw fires being lit, tires being thrown, wilful damage, wilful acts of violence and vandalism on our railways.

Would you confirm to us how many arrests and how many charges have been levied in the last three weeks?

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

I don't have that at my fingertips. There have been arrests, there's no question. I don't know what else.... It is something that's decided by the provincial authorities, the provincial police—the OPP, as an example—or the RCMP in B.C., because there have been blockades taken down there.

I would have to inquire with those provincial authorities.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Minister, during the validation of the 737 Max, the Transport Canada test pilot working on the file had questions about the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system, MCAS, prompted by the stabilizer trim running in the simulator as the MCAS activated and the test pilot not knowing why. The test pilot at that time wrote a concern paper. Are you aware of that concern paper?

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

No, I'm not. I would have to dig into what you have just talked about. I don't have sufficient context or knowledge of when this happened in the simulator.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

You wouldn't know whether TC referred to that concern paper following the second accident, the Ethiopian accident.

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

They may have. I'm not with them intimately every single day. I have a very capable team. I think you spoke to Nick Robinson and David Turnbull earlier this week, possibly, and I hope they were able to answer your questions. They are immersed in this in a very serious manner, and I hope they were able to convey to you all of the work we are doing to satisfy ourselves that we're going to make sure this airplane doesn't fly again until it's fit to fly.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Minister.

Mr. Berthold.

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

Minister Garneau, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the rail bypass in Lac-Mégantic.

Are you able to give people a more specific time frame on this file? Certain things are always changing and people are starting to worry about the timeline of the whole project.

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

I hope they're not worried. We've indeed committed to building a rail bypass, which I'm very proud of, given how much work had to be done to get us to where we are today. I would like to thank the Province of Quebec, which has been collaborating on this project.

As far as I know, the negotiations to acquire the lands that will be used for the rail bypass are being led by another department; it will be up to that department to set a reasonable price.

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

Have you determined who will be the principal contractor in this file?

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Mr. Berthold, your time's up.

Minister, I'll give you 30 seconds.

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

We intend to begin with plans and quotes later this year. The Central Maine & Quebec Railway, the CMQR, continues to be involved, even though it has been bought by Canadian Pacific.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Berthold.

Mr. El-Khoury.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Minister, for being here. I'd also like to thank you for the work and effort made by your department to improve and modernize our transportation system. The construction of the Champlain Bridge, which is a source of national and international pride, comes to mind. Again, thank you.

With respect to the supplementary estimates, as I understand it, part of the funds from the sale of Transport Canada's surplus properties will be used to ensure that the former owners of lands expropriated in Mirabel in 1969 will have the opportunity to buy back those lands.

Could you explain in further detail why it is important for your department and the Government of Canada to offer these people the opportunity to buy back the lands in question?

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

Thank you for your question.

I went to Mirabel last May. At that time, our colleague Ms. Joly also held discussions on this issue. In a way, it is a matter of righting a wrong. Many people had been hard hit by the expropriations at Mirabel. At the end of it all, there was still a wooded area. We wanted to ensure that the descendants of the people who were expropriated at the time would have first choice. This gesture cannot fix everything, but at least it indicates that we recognize that what was done should not have been done.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you.

Mr. Minister, one of the objectives is to strengthen Canada's reputation internationally, which is in your mandate letter. You're saying that physical obstacles are hindering this progress.

Could you tell us what action you're currently taking to reduce or eliminate those obstacles?

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

In this regard, the Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative plays an extremely important role. Take the port of Vancouver on the west coast as an example. It receives a lot of ships from Japan, which imports a lot of grain from Canada. The Japanese companies insist—and this is normal—that their ships be allowed to go to the terminal when they arrive, that they be filled and then they leave. For these companies, the quality of the product—about which there is no doubt—is important, but so is its availability, given that they have to meet very tight deadlines.

In Canada, we sometimes face challenges in the transportation of grain, which comes primarily from the west. About 20% of grain comes from the east, but the remaining 80% comes from the west. There are mountains, floods, rains, avalanches and a lot of those kinds of things, but there are also challenges when trains are slowed down by road traffic. Fifty or 100 years ago, trains dominated transportation, but now the cities and towns slow down their traffic, especially when they come into the area known as the Lower Mainland. We're trying to remove barriers so that trains can get to the port more quickly, because we're trying to be efficient. That's one example.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you.

Mr. Minister, you say that you're working to improve rail transportation and trade corridors. Last week, I had a visit from Port of Quebec authorities. They told me about expansion to build storage facilities for containers.

Does such a project, which will stimulate the Quebec economy and create jobs in the region, fit with trade corridors?

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

That could be the case. It would be necessary to consider in detail what the project entails. If the result of the project is to get more material to other destinations more quickly, it should be seriously considered.

A large part of the funds allocated is aimed at intermodality. For example, when a ship arrives, the containers that are unloaded are sometimes put on trains. In this case, however, a train needs to have a railroad that allows it to leave quickly, full of containers.

Also, many trucks deliver containers to the port of Montreal. Ideally, in terms of efficiency, the trucks enter the port to have their containers unloaded and put almost immediately into the ship. This is the ideal situation, but sometimes there are traffic challenges, such as congestion due to having to cross the city. All of this slows down the process. But, as is often said, time is money.

This is what we try to solve through the projects we accept. Perhaps this project is eligible.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Garneau.

Thank you, Mr. El-Khoury.

Mr. Barsalou-Duval.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to come back to the issue of the shoreline erosion of the St. Lawrence. We weren't able to talk much about it earlier.

In 2019, I came with some citizens—we had warned your office—to ask to meet with you. We also tabled a petition on this issue. However, your office did not grant our request to meet with you, and you never responded to the petition. That was in May and there was a 45-day deadline, which would have given you ample time to respond before Parliament was dissolved.

I'd like to know why you refused to meet with the group and why you didn't respond to the petition.

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

As I mentioned, shoreline erosion is not just caused by the passage of ships, which is the responsibility of Transport Canada. It's a complex phenomenon. You know all the other reasons. We would support working with a lot of other groups. It's not an issue that only Transport Canada needs to address. We need to make sure that we minimize shoreline erosion, in terms of vessel speed, but we also recognize the importance of efficient marine transportation.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Garneau.

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

You should communicate with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard, which has direct responsibility.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

I understand your position.

I would now like to turn to the issue of the transfer of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, which is a not-for-profit organization. In the past, when we privatized such an organization, such as NAV CANADA, there were significant reductions in service. This was the case in Mont-Joli, Quebec City, Rouyn-Noranda and Sept-Îles. You say that it was supposed to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and so on.

Can you guarantee, on the one hand, that small municipalities and small airports in the regions of Quebec will not pay the price of this privatization in terms of reduced services?

On the other hand, the tax imposed on the airline ticket is uniform everywhere nowadays, whether you come from the United States, Canada or anywhere else on the planet. We know very well that it is not in small regional airports that people arrive from China or other countries from abroad. Most flights come from within the country, yet these small airports have to pay the same tax as others.

Can you also assure me that these airports will not be penalized for the application of the future tax?