Evidence of meeting #16 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was lauzon.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Conservative
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Clarke, ON
Are you getting tired of being his crutch, or...?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
No, not at all. This is why I'm here. This is why I ran for office 10 years ago, in fact.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Before going back to Mr. Lauzon, I have to give the floor to Mr. Garon, who has a point of order.
Bloc
Jean-Denis Garon Bloc Mirabel, QC
I may not be up to date on the rules, but I'm not sure that the last two points of order were actually points of order. Is that the case?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
They asked Mr. Lauzon to talk about the matter at hand, the motion moved by Mr. Barsalou‑Duval. As I said to Mr. Lauzon, I would ask all members who take the floor to speak to the motion. Thank you.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
Thank you.
Again, guys, thanks for the break. I appreciate it. I had a bit of water and took a little breather.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC
You can cede the floor and take a break, if you want.
Conservative
Liberal
Bloc
Jean-Denis Garon Bloc Mirabel, QC
Mr. Chair, I understand that people are tired, but it makes the interpreters' job more difficult when people talk on both sides. I'm mentioning that for their hearing safety as well.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
You're absolutely right. I would like to remind our colleagues to avoid having discussions when they don't have the floor. Thank you very much.
Mr. Albas, you have the floor.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC
I want to apologize to the interpreters for that. I will try to wait my turn before speaking.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
Thank you very much, Mr. Albas. I'm sure the interpreters appreciate that.
Mr. Lauzon, you have the floor.
Liberal
Stéphane Lauzon Liberal Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC
Thank you.
The witness I was talking about, who has 34 years of experience, once again, told us about a number of problems, but why don't we now talk about the solutions we could put in place, because there are some. He told us that there should be more oversight on the ground to conduct audits. For that to happen, the number of staff has to increase. Can we work with the provinces and territories to increase the number of staff? Can we increase our own staff to more effectively detect all the tax frauds that are going on and affecting various departments, particularly when it comes to the Canada pension plan?
We also spoke with this witness about the importance of having clear sanctions. Crackdowns work. For example, at the beginning of the school year, in September, police officers are sent to school areas to monitor traffic, and it works. We all know someone who has been caught driving faster than the speed limit in a school zone. Could we increase crackdowns? That's what the witness said. Could we establish clear sanctions to crack down on businesses that hire people illegally? I don't know what power we have in that regard, but we could at least make recommendations and implement solutions.
The second witness then talked to us about insurance. As I said earlier, insurance premiums are getting more and more expensive. He talked about establishing a national database based on an American model that would enable all provinces to have access to insurance information. This isn't to make the information public, to answer the Bloc Québécois member's question, but to work with the provinces to catch the culprits. Just because an illegal driver crosses the border from one province to another doesn't mean they're legal. The left hand should speak with the right hand. Information should be shared across Canada.
Another proposal was to strengthen checks, and for that to happen, there's work to be done regarding work permits, visas and temporary foreign workers. Could we make that a recommendation? Earlier, I said that the Department of Public Safety could be involved, but could the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship also be involved? A number of departments have influenced our recommendations. We have worked with provincial public safety officials and highway inspectors, but we can also work with federal departments to resolve the issues related to the Driver Inc. model.
We also spoke with this witness about national awareness campaigns. I talked about the importance of attracting more women to vocational schools and occupations that aren't traditionally held by women, and that comes down to awareness campaigns. For example, at the beginning of the school year, there are municipalities that encourage drivers to slow down by putting a big banner on a school bus that says, “Caution, the school year starts this week.” That's a great image. When I was responsible for public safety in Gatineau as a municipal councillor between 2009 and 2011, we did the same thing. The City of Gatineau continues to do so, to this day, to raise drivers' awareness of the importance of slowing down in school zones.
I believe that a national awareness campaign would make it possible to educate people on this situation and respond to the needs arising from the Driver Inc. file. It would also be good to harmonize all the safety standards and establish a training model. Since 2017, Ontario has had a model that makes training mandatory, and the Quebec government is now following suit. Starting on December 15, training will be mandatory to get a class 1 licence in Quebec. What I heard from the witness, in fact, was that compliance with the rules shouldn't be optional. It's a condition for trust, and today we're calling for solidarity, vigilance and action. We should move forward and successfully complete this study by tabling recommendations.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC
I was originally going to say there are about 20 minutes of resources left. Can you just confirm that, because I understand that the justice committee—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
We do have additional resources left. We're just trying to figure out exactly until what time we have them.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC
I hear it was around seven hours.
Is that correct?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Schiefke
There are many more hours, but I'm trying to figure out exactly how many because the emails are still coming in.
Conservative
Dan Albas Conservative Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC
I'm just encouraging Mr. Lauzon to pace himself.