Transport Committee on March 21st, 2024

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

That multimodal network would be the main reason we're going to continue to invest in roads.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Yes, that's 100% right.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Thank you.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Badawey.

Thank you, Minister—

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you for the invitation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

—for taking the time to be here in committee. We really thank you for doing so.

With that, colleagues, we'll suspend once again for a few minutes as we prepare to welcome Minister Guilbeault.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

I call this meeting back to order.

Colleagues, for the third hour of our meeting, we have the Hon. Steven Guilbeault, MP and Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Joining him are representatives of the Parks Canada Agency: Ron Hallman, president and chief executive officer; Andrew Campbell, senior vice-president, operations; and David Millar, vice-president, real property and assets.

Welcome, all. We are pleased to see you again today.

We'll jump right into it, Minister, and give you five minutes for your opening remarks, because time is very tight.

The floor is yours, sir.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the unceded traditional lands of the Anishinabe Algonquin nation, who have long been the stewards of the lands we are sharing today.

I would also like to thank the committee for the opportunity to discuss Parks Canada's considerable investments in infrastructure, including road construction and maintenance.

I am here today with several representatives of Parks Canada: Ron Hallman, president and chief executive officer; Andrew Campbell, senior vice-president, operations; and David Millar, vice-president, real property and assets.

As the committee is aware, Parks Canada is responsible for some 3,300 kilometres of roads across the country, including sections of the Trans-Canada Highway that cross our national parks from the Rocky Mountains to eastern Canada. Arranged in a straight line, these roads would take you directly from Vancouver to Toronto. This system is essential. Every year, these roads are used by more than 20 million people who visit the national historic sites, national parks and national park reserves across Canada.

More than that, many of these highways and roads are critical components of local, regional and national transportation corridors across the country. They are a major part of the infrastructure that supports community safety, connects regional and national economies, and serves as a fundamental element of our nation's tourism industry.

Our government recognizes the role this essential network plays in our society in ensuring the safe, reliable and efficient movement of people, goods and services.

Our government has invested nearly $1.6 billion since 2015 to maintain, enhance and strengthen existing roadway infrastructure in Parks Canada-administered places, including twinning entire sections, adding 40 kilometres of passing lanes along the Trans-Canada Highway and adding new overpasses that improve both driver and wildlife safety. These new overpasses serve as vital ecosystem connectors.

Parks Canada infrastructure investments have made a real difference. Some 87% of roadways and 67% of associated bridges are in good or fair condition, which represent an increase of 45% and 20%, respectively, since 2016.

I am sure that some of the other recent investments will be familiar to members of the committee.

In Quebec, for example, Parks Canada has invested more than $55 million in improvements to Promenade Road in the Mauricie National Park, a key 63-kilometre corridor running through the park.

Several important local and regional transportation corridors are being upgraded on Parks Canada-administered lands in Newfoundland and Labrador. These include Highway 436 into l'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, Highway 430, and Highway 431 in Gros Morne National Park. There's also more than $45 million in improvements to the Trans-Canada Highway that passes through the Terra Nova National Park.

In Alberta, a $95-million rehabilitation of Highway 93 north through the Banff and Jasper National Parks is now largely completed. Bridges along the Yellowhead Trans-Canada Highway 16 through Jasper National Park have been upgraded to better accommodate transport traffic.

In British Columbia, the twinning of a key segment of the Trans-Canada Highway in Yoho National Park was completed in 2021.

In addition, Parks Canada is exploring ways to enhance its road network sustainability. Recent investments have improved infrastructure resilience against storms, which are, as the committee knows, increasing in both frequency and intensity due to climate change.

In Prince Edward Island National Park, for example, Parks Canada is investing $4.6 million in the restoration of the Gulf Shore Way to address hurricane Fiona's impacts and protect against further erosion and potential roadway loss.

Other initiatives are focused on the more sustainable use of road systems. We commonly include culvert replacement or exclusion fencing in areas of wildlife crossing, which gives aquatic species and large and small mammals better and safer ways to cross roadways. With the construction of often impressive overpasses and underpasses, Parks Canada is improving landscape connectivity and minimizing vehicle collisions. These efforts help keep wildlife and people safe.

Building on work to date, and in keeping with the long-standing commitment to sustainable transportation in our iconic national parks, I look forward to announcing details on an alternative fuel trial in Banff National Park at a later date. Parks Canada's support for low-emission transportation and investment in infrastructure serve as an example of our government's commitment to leadership under the pan-Canadian framework on clean growth and climate change.

In conclusion, Parks Canada recognizes the essential role that its road system plays in linking Canadians to these special places. Safety, reliability and resilience are priorities for Parks Canada. This system is necessary both to ensure that our children [Technical difficulty—Editor] coming from school, and to support our thriving economy.

Parks Canada is also committed to managing infrastructure in a healthy and responsible manner and always making the best decisions for our environment. That's why we have invested $1.6 billion in the roads on lands administered by Parks Canada since 2015. More recently, the 2022 budget provided some $557 million over three years to carry out infrastructure projects over Parks Canada's vast and varied property portfolio across the entire country.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Minister.

We begin our line of questioning today with Ms. Lantsman.

Ms. Lantsman, the floor is yours for six minutes, please.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Thanks, Minister, for joining us, and thanks to your officials as well.

I'm going to read a quote back to you that brought you to this committee. You said, “Our government has made the decision to stop investing in new road infrastructure.”

You said you didn't say it. You clearly said it. You said you didn't mean it.

What was it that you meant by “our government has made the decision to stop investing in new [roads]”, if you didn't mean that our government has made the decision to stop investing in new roads?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Thank you for your question.

Actually, what I've previously said in public on numerous occasions, and will repeat before the committee today, is that I should have made it clear that those comments concerned the third link project that the Quebec government has at times brought forward and at times abandoned. It is somewhat difficult to follow, but that comment really concerned the third link between Quebec City and Rive-Sud de Québec.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Your colleagues earlier, Minister, threw you under the bus on that.

I'll read the second thing that you said: “The analysis we have done is that the network is perfectly adequate to respond to the needs we have.”

I don't have to tell you that it takes 29 minutes to drive 10 kilometres in Toronto. It takes 19 minutes in your city of Montreal. Of course, not everybody lives next to a subway.

What's the analysis that we have done? Can you state a specific analysis?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

As I said, and I'm going to repeat it, I was talking specifically about the third link project.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

You have an analysis specific to that. Did you share that with the Minister of Transport? He earlier threw you under the bus and said that he hadn't seen an analysis. Is that something that you're willing to share with him, or maybe table at this committee?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

I actually think that was somewhat lost in translation. I was talking about existing analyses. Many analyses conducted in Quebec show that we don't need that third link between Quebec City and the south shore or Lévis. They are—

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

So when you say—

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

They are public studies.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

—“the analysis we have done”, you're talking about an analysis that was done. Which analysis?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

I'd be glad to forward them to the committee. They are studies that have been made public by many in various organizations.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

So it's not an analysis that you have done at all.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

As I said, they are public studies that show that we don't need a third link between Quebec City and Lévis.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

The “no more roads” policy and the analysis that you didn't do.... That's why you're here.

Again, I'm going to state this: In Toronto, it takes 29 minutes to drive 10 kilometres. It's the third-slowest in the world in terms of traffic patterns. In Vancouver, it's 23 minutes to drive 10 kilometres. In Winnipeg, it's 19 minutes. In Montreal....

I have a whole list of cities around the country, big and small. All of the them have one thing in common: traffic congestion. We need roads. Those are just for folks who live in the cities. I suspect that you know that you can't use a bike lane in most rural ridings. You certainly can't walk to work or walk to drive your kids to hockey.

What do you mean when you say, “the network is perfectly adequate to respond to the needs we have”? It's blatantly untrue. This is not even an analysis; it's just facts.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

As I said, I was referring specifically to the third link between Quebec City and the south shore. I wasn't talking about Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg or Vancouver.

I gave you the details regarding the $1.6 billion that has been invested. I'm responsible for that through Parks Canada. It's for the maintenance and expansion of the road system on the various road segments for which Parks Canada is responsible.

I think we can agree on the fact that $1.6 billion is a significant amount of money for the maintenance, improvement and expansion of the road system in various regions of the country.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

We're not getting anywhere, because you're not taking responsibility for the policy that you announced on behalf of the Government of Canada. It's very clear that maybe you don't have a role in making it.