Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee, for inviting me.
My focus will be on the Railway Safety Act and the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act.
My research on rail safety began shortly after the Lac-Mégantic disaster on July 6, 2013. It culminated in my book, which was published several years ago in both English and French.
I have a copy of it here in French.
Though I don't have expertise in the technicalities of legislation, hopefully my comments will help you assess where, if possible, the bill might be strengthened to help minimize accident risks.
First, as far as I can tell, the bill does not remove the power of railways to police themselves. Once again, Transport Canada is reviewing the issue. Also, the bill does not incorporate key recommendations in the standing committee's May 2022 report, including on railway policing, nor do I see much substantive improvement of safety management systems.
In its most recent 2022 watch list, the Transportation Safety Board noted that “SMS are not yet effectively identifying hazards and mitigating risks in rail transportation.” The watch list also found that some companies are still failing to conduct overall risk assessments in their safety management systems. The next TSB watch list won't be released until 2025. However, in an interview on the tenth anniversary of Lac-Mégantic last July, Kathy Fox, the chair, said that a lot of steps have been taken to improve the rules requiring trains to develop safety management system plans. However, the TSB is concerned about the adequacy of such plans, as well as the effectiveness of oversight by Transport Canada.
I'll also say that little has been done to lift the veil on corporate-government interactions protected under commercial confidentiality rules. When compared internationally, Canada's access-to-information and whistle-blower protection laws rank pretty poorly.
The latest watch list also concluded that “the unplanned and uncontrolled movements of rail equipment” continue to “create high-risk situations that may have catastrophic consequences.”
In the same interview I mentioned, Kathy Fox also said:
The bottom line is uncontrolled movements, which was the underlying cause of Lac-Mégantic, are still an outstanding issue...and while some actions have been taken, we are not where we need to be...because (Transport Canada) hasn't gone far enough.
Collisions and derailments on main tracks, which can have the highest severity of all rail accidents, were actually 25% higher in 2022 than the previous 10-year average. Transport Canada still has not mandated modern braking systems. The companies continue to push back against mandatory regulations on, for example, ECP brakes.
In the wake of Lac-Mégantic, government has mandated stronger tank cars for carrying dangerous goods and established a phase-out schedule for 2025. However, the DOT-111 cars carrying dangerous goods still run through Lac-Mégantic, according to local residents.
In a recent interview, Ian Naish, former TSB director of railway investigations, said that the evidence from derailments in recent years suggests that, if you have a derailment at a speed greater than 35 miles per hour, there is no guarantee that these new tank cars will contain their products. Lac-Mégantic residents want to see train speeds reduced and limits on train length.
Finally, companies have long resisted work-rest practices in accordance with the science. This remains an issue, even after new rules came into effect in May in a phased-in approach...fully by the end of 2024. Fatigue also remains on the TSB watch list.
I'll leave it there. Thanks.