Transport Committee on March 21st, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Good morning. Welcome to the eighth meeting of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

Today’s meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House Order of Thursday, November 25, 2021. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind all participants of this meeting that screenshots or taking photos of your screen is not permitted.

Given the ongoing pandemic situation, and in light of the recommendations from public health authorities as well as the directive of the Board of Internal Economy on January 28, 2022, to remain healthy and safe, the following is recommended for all those attending the meeting in person.

Anyone with symptoms should participate by Zoom and not attend this meeting in person. Everyone must maintain two-metre physical distancing, whether seated or standing. Everyone must wear a non-medical mask when circulating in the room. It is recommended in the strongest possible terms that members wear their mask at all times, including when seated. Non-medical masks, which provide better clarity over cloth masks, are available in the room. Everyone present must maintain proper hand hygiene by using the hand sanitizer at the room entrance. Committee rooms are cleaned before and after each meeting. To maintain this, everyone is encouraged to clean surfaces such as the desk, the chair and the microphone with the disinfectant wipes provided when vacating or taking their seat.

As the chair, I will be enforcing these measures for the duration of the meeting, and I thank members in advance for their co-operation.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Thursday, March 3, 2022, the committee is meeting to study Canada's preparedness to respond to Russian threats to Canadian waters, ports and airspace.

Appearing before the committee today, we have the Honourable Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport, as well as the deputy minister, Michael Keenan. They will be appearing in the first half of today's meeting.

In the second half of today's meeting, we will have with us, from the Department of Transport, Mr. Marc-Yves Bertin, director general, marine policy; Julie Gascon, director general, marine safety and security; and Nicholas Robinson, director general, civil aviation. From Nav Canada, we will have Ben Girard, vice-president and chief of operations, and Mr. Jonathan Bagg, director, stakeholder and industry relations.

Witnesses, thank you for appearing before our committee today.

Minister, it is always a pleasure to have you here to answer our questions. It's good to see you this morning. I know that our members are eagerly looking forward to asking you questions.

With that in mind, Minister, I will turn the mike over to you for your opening remarks.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Good morning. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you, colleagues, for inviting me to come back and meet with you once again.

I want to begin by acknowledging that I am joining you from the traditional territory of the Algonquin and Anishinabe people.

I'm pleased to be joined by, as you mentioned, Mr. Chair, Michael Keenan, the deputy minister of transport; Julie Gascon, director general of marine safety and security; Marc-Yves Bertin, director general of marine policy; and Nicholas Robinson, director general of civil aviation.

Mr. Chair, let me start out by saying that Russia must be held accountable for its aggression against Ukraine.

Russia must be held accountable for its actions.

In response to President Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the government has taken strong and decisive action. Today I'll be speaking about measures that Canada has taken to restrict and respond to Russian aircraft in Canadian waters, ports and airspace.

As Minister of Transport, I am dedicated to making Canada's transportation system safer and more secure. This includes during times of crisis, as we are witnessing with Russia's attacks on Ukraine. Canadians are outraged by these acts of aggression. This violation of Ukraine's independence and sovereignty has caused unnecessary loss of life, a massive refugee displacement and incredible hardship for the Ukrainian people. Canada stands with Ukraine and will continue to do what is necessary to respond to Russia's unprovoked and unjustifiable attacks on Ukraine.

We will continue to support Ukraine.

On February 27 we announced the closure of Canada's territorial airspace to all Russian aircraft. On March 16 we also announced the closure of Canada's territorial airspace to all Belarusian aircraft. This means that we prohibited the operation of Russian- or Belarusian-owned, -chartered or -operated aircraft over Canada, including in the airspace above Canada's territorial waters.

A few days after our announcement, the United States followed suit and closed its airspace to Russia, which essentially rendered trans-Atlantic service by Russian airlines non-viable. As of today, approximately 40 countries have suspended Russian air access.

I want to take a moment to highlight some developments that occurred since these measures were implemented. On the same day that Canada closed its territorial airspace to Russian aircraft, Russian Aeroflot flight 111 entered Canadian airspace while en route from Miami to Moscow. Just a few days after that, a private aircraft carrying two Russian nationals landed in Yellowknife. While the investigation of Aeroflot is ongoing, Transport Canada's investigation found that the aircraft that landed in Yellowknife operated against restrictions, and $24,000 in fines were then issued to those responsible.

In addition to these incidents, just before our notice to airmen, or NOTAM, came into force on February 27, a Russian-operated Antonov cargo plane landed at Toronto Pearson. The aircraft has been grounded and prohibited from departing due to the ban on Russian-owned aircraft in Canadian airspace, as it would be in violation of the NOTAM.

These incidents are taken extremely seriously. We will not hesitate to take immediate enforcement action should further incidents of non-compliance with the restrictions occur.

I also announced that we banned Russian-owned or -registered vessels in Canadian internal waters and at our ports. As with our airspace restrictions, we will not hesitate to enforce any breaches of these measures.

In addition, we've strongly condemned Russia's actions at the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Maritime Organization. We will continue to call out any actions that are not in line with international obligations.

In conclusion, by closing our airspace, ports and waters to Russian- and Belarusian-owned and -controlled aircraft and Russian-owned or -controlled vessels, we have acted quickly to find ways to hold Russia accountable. We have already shown that we will take swift action to punish those who violate these measures.

Beyond action against Russia and Belarus, we are also taking measures to support Ukraine. We have developed a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine to recognize their certificates of competency issued in accordance with the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. This will permit a Ukrainian seafarer with a Canadian work permit to serve on board a Canadian-flagged vessel.

We will continue to stand with Ukraine.

I'd like to thank the committee for its ongoing input on transportation issues. I look forward to continuing our work together.

With that, Mr. Chair, I'm concluding my opening remarks, and I look forward to the committee's questions.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Our first round of questions will begin with Ms. Lantsman.

Ms. Lantsman, the floor is yours. You have six minutes.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Hi, Minister. Thank you for joining us and thank you to your officials for making the time. I commend you on the swift measures around our airspace.

I know that my colleagues will talk about things that are related to physical security. I wanted to spend some time talking about cybersecurity threats to our critical infrastructure.

Experts have said that Russia will launch cyber-attacks against Canadian, American and European financial institutions because of our response. Do you think those threats could be extended to our transportation infrastructure, particularly our critical port infrastructure?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Transport Canada is aware of the serious threat that Russia could pose to our cybersecurity. Transport Canada has been working closely with Public Safety, which is the lead federal department responsible for enhancing the resilience of Canada's critical infrastructure against ongoing and emerging threats through its national strategy, an action plan for cybersecurity, so absolutely, we are also collaborating with ports, with airports and with other stakeholders on ensuring that they all have the plans and the support they need to strengthen and enhance their cybersecurity.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Minister, have you engaged the department in the last 26 days since the Russian aggression began in Ukraine—this time—on any specific measures around enhancing cybersecurity, whether it be at our airports or our ports or on any critical transportation infrastructure in Canada?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Yes, we are engaged with transportation institutions, including airports, ports and others—including, by the way, Transport Canada itself—in ensuring that our safeguards and our security, including cybersecurity, are maintained and prepared for current and emerging threats.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Minister, the limited studies that exist indicate that ransomware attacks in the transport industry in North America, not just in Canada—there was no specific data that I was able to find on Canada—increased by 186%. That's just one of the aspects of cyber-attacks. That was between June 2020 and June 2021. We know that since then there have been ransomware attacks on systems in the GTA, where you and I are from.

I know that Canada is falling behind its peers on cybersecurity and investment in cybersecurity. Is that a concern for the protection of our infrastructure? What's the department advocating for as part of the limited funding that's available—in comparison to our allies—for cybersecurity?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

I agree, and I repeat, that the increased risk to our cybersecurity is certainly a concern of ours. We've been working collaboratively, not only with Public Safety but also with the Communications Security Establishment, the CSE, and our partners. We are regularly sharing and distributing communications and guidance issued by the Communications Security Establishment with ports, airports and other institutions. We are all monitoring it.

Undoubtedly, the risks continue to evolve and increase, and that's why we want to make sure that all critical transportation infrastructure and institutions are prepared and ready.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Is there a standard, Minister, or regulatory requirement about how much time, money or resources are dedicated to cybersecurity in any one of the critical transportation infrastructure networks under your purview?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

We regularly assess the cybersecurity plans of the institutions in the critical infrastructure of the transportation sector. We assess them; we evaluate them, and we provide feedback to institutions, so, yes, we act as a resource for our critical infrastructure, to make sure they have the highest standards of protection against any potential threats.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Is there a requirement—a legislative requirement or a regulatory requirement—for those under your purview to spend a certain amount of money or provide a certain amount of training or take this more seriously, given the increased threat and potential threat from foreign actors?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

I'm not aware of a requirement to dedicate a percentage of spending on security, whether it's cyber or otherwise. Having said that, it is important that we assess and evaluate ongoing plans that institutions have. If the committee wants to study the current standards and offer recommendations, we would be more than happy to support that study and work with it on that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you, Ms. Lantsman.

The next six minutes go to Mr. Iacono.

Mr. Iacono, the floor is yours.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good morning to you, Minister, and to the officials joining you.

I want to start by commending you, Minister, for all your efforts related to the crisis in Ukraine.

Other than the fines you talked about in your opening statement, what penalties apply if a Russian aircraft violates the current airspace restriction?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

I want to thank the honourable member for his question.

In accordance with the Canadian aviation regulations, Transport Canada can issue administrative monetary penalties, or fines, for incidents of non-compliance with the NOTAM. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, for that investigation that occurred with the chartered private jet, we imposed a significant amount in terms of financial fines, so corporations that are convicted of violations of airspace restrictions can be subjected to a fine of up to $15,000.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

What happens if an airline doesn't pay the fine imposed? What steps does Canada take in that case?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Operators who do not comply with Canadian rules, including payment of fines, could be subject to consequences. Some of those consequences could go as far as rejecting their permits to land in Canadian ports or airports, or to fly over Canadian airspace.

There are severe consequences to those operators who do not comply with Canadian rules.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

How does Canada respond when an aircraft enters its airspace but doesn't land on Canadian soil?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

As is happening right now.... I mentioned the Russian Aeroflot flight 111. There's an ongoing investigation. That's what will happen under normal circumstances.

If a flight does not land but violates the rules, Transport Canada will initiate an investigation. We'll do our best to collect evidence and testimonies and understand what happened. Based on the findings of that investigation, Transport Canada will make decisions about consequences, including the imposition of fines or other measures.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you.

Minister, which other countries have put similar restrictions in place?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

As I said in my opening remarks, there are around 40 countries. I can go through some of them if you want. Here's the list that I have in front of me: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania.... I could go on, Mr. Chair.

There is a long list of countries here that we'd be happy to table with the committee.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

What retaliatory measures has Russia taken, if any?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Yes. Russia ended up banning the operation of several countries' flights. We understand that Canada is on that list. It has retaliated against Canadian operators.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Minister.

Roughly how many flights from Russia used to enter Canadian airspace?