moved:
Motion No. 1
That Bill C-58, in Clause 19, be amended by adding after line 7 on page 12 the following:
“(3) Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):
(3) A railway company that operates a line of railway shall reimburse a provincial government, city or municipality for expenses incurred by the provincial government, city or municipality, as the case may be, in respect of the line of railway for the purpose of complying with a regulation made under subsection (1).
(4) For greater certainty, subsection (3) does not limit the scope of subsection (2) with respect to a provincial government, city or municipality.”
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to outline my reservations about Bill C-58 introduced by the government to optimize rail transportation safety.
Anything that has to do with the rail system is of interest to the inhabitants of the riding of Argenteuil—Papineau. In 1994, we prepared a brief opposing CP's request to abandon its operations in the subdivision of Lachute between Saint-Augustin-de-Mirabel and Thurso in the province of Quebec .
Fortunately, through the intervention of Jacques Léonard, the then provincial transport minister, we obtained a moratorium so the line would not be abandoned. Because of this moratorium, the trains are again running between Saint-Augustin-de-Mirabel and Thurso.
While the Bloc Quebecois welcomes this bill, it deplores the circumstances that led up to it. In September 1997, a VIA rail passenger train left the tracks near Biggar in Saskatchewan with tragic results. This is what it took to get the minister's office to introduce the substantial amendments to the 1989 Railway Safety Act that were needed.
We have carefully examined the bill, which is a series of very technical amendments to the present legislation and, with some reservations, are in favour of Bill C-58.
First, we see it as positive that steps have been taken to enhance the government's ability to get the railways to remedy nuisances and hazards relating to safety and to the environment. Thus the government is assuming more of one of its fundamental responsibilities, to ensure people's safety.
It is also obvious that the government is taking advantage of this opportunity to encourage collaboration between the various parties involved in railway transportation in the process of creating and implementing safety measures for rail users and employees, and the population in general.
Finally, this bill gives the Minister of Transport the necessary authority in cases not covered by the legislation to step in promptly, overstepping the regulations, in the interests of the safety of those affected by rail transportation. We acknowledge the justification of this provision. It is a valuable tool in the hands of a Minister of Transport with concerns for public safety.
As I have said, one of the provisions in the bill strikes us as unacceptable in its present wording. This is clause 19, which gives the governor in council authority “respecting the construction, alteration and maintenance of roads for the purpose of ensuring safe railway operations”.
Hon. members are no doubt aware that the construction and maintenance of roads is a provincial and municipal responsibility. Railway safety is, and we do not dispute this, under federal jurisdiction. We nonetheless believe that steps must be taken to prevent Ottawa from using this responsibility as an excuse to once again invade provincial jurisdictions and letting the province or municipality foot the bill, when they cannot afford the road work required, especially in the case of small municipalities.
Clause 19 is sufficiently vague and its scope sufficiently broad that the governor in council could, under this provision, force a municipality to build a bridge to carry the road over the rail line on the pretext that it will mean greater safety for road and rail passengers.
This is totally unacceptable, hence our amendment, which reads as follows:
Section 24 of the same Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):
(3) A railway company that operates a line of railway shall reimburse a provincial government, city or municipality for expenses incurred by the provincial government, city or municipality, as the case may be, in respect of the line of railway for the purpose of complying with a regulation made under subsection (1).
(4) For greater certainty, subsection (3) does not limit the scope of subsection (2) with respect to a provincial government, city or municipality.
I am delighted to have the member for Jonquière seconding this amendment.
Indeed, it is desirable and normal that the measures decided by a round table headed by the federal Minister of Transport and designed to improve safety conditions relating to a railway line are not a financial burden unfairly imposed by the federal government on the province, city or municipality concerned. Clearly, the safety of a railway line is the responsibility of the operator of that line.
We realize that imposing fees on the railway companies concerned may be a deterrent to the implementation of projects designed to improve the safety of the facilities. This is why it is important to include in the act provisions specifying that even though the cost of such work must be borne by line operators, it must in no way adversely affect the implementation and the timetable of such projects.
In conclusion, while the Bloc Quebecois supports this purely technical bill, it insists that the proposed amendments be taken into consideration, in the interest of Quebeckers and Canadians.
Our party remains firm in its determination to protect the interests of Quebeckers and to oppose potential or actual federal interference in jurisdictions that come under the provinces, which this government has no business doing. That being said, we think this is basically a good bill.
The Bloc Quebecois feels that once the necessary adjustments have been made, everything should be done to ensure the bill's quick implementation. As for us, we are prepared to work to that end.