David Anderson

[Committees Of The House, March 19th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I would happily take my name off the list of those who voted if it offends the hon. member. I do not wish to hold the House up any longer on this point.

[Transport, March 17th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report to the House that there have been very dramatic improvements in the shipment of grain to the coast. Rail car unloads for the last week for which I have figures were at 4,500 cars as compared to under 4,000 for the previous week.

Things are improving and I hope we will soon have the backlog dealt with. There is a reduction in the ships waiting on the west coast from 39 to 30.

However I have been requested by the ministers of transportation of three of the four western provinces to look into the issue by way of an inquiry. I am in discussion with them on whether that is

the best approach. Our objective in government is to make sure we come up with new approaches which will prevent the types of delays we had this winter.

This will take the co-operation of all parties. I reject out of hand the suggestion of the New Democratic Party of simply pointing the finger of blame at one of the various parties. We have done that for 110 years and the result is the problem we had this winter.

[Railways, March 11th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has forgotten that many factors are taken into account when the cost of capital allowance is made in determining grain freight rates. This is done by the Canadian Transportation Agency.

I should point out to the member that there have been adjustments downward as a result of improvements in the capital market, as well as the adjustment that he mentioned, which is related to the risk involved in the current system of grain transportation and the risk to the railways themselves.

[Supply, February 13th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is true, the pessimists are on the other side of the House, and the optimists are here on the government side.

With respect to small airports, such as the one at Sherbrooke, that is what we want to do, to run airports with local input, which is very important, local enterprise, and local energy from the people on site. That is very important.

As for money, we have set aside several tens of millions of dollars, approximately $35 million in all, I think, for the transfer of airports. Yes, there are times when people from the region, the particular city, say that $10 million is needed. The department says that is a bit too much, that it can give a lower amount.

These are the negotiations we go through for each airport. It depends on the condition of the airport, and also on what was spent in previous years. Often an airport is in very good condition, and the last time any money was spent on it was maybe ten years ago.

What is needed is to look closely at each airport, and we must have some flexibility in our approach. But I can assure you we have transferred several airports.

[Supply, February 13th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has raised a very good question, namely how has the situation improved.

The situation has improved in this way. Previously, before abandonment, with the heavy and very complicated mechanisms that were laid on the railways, they had to show it was an uneconomic route. Once they had showed it was an uneconomic route, sometimes we suspect, occasionally on certain lines they tried to help to make it look bad, no one was interested in buying the short line.

With the new system, there is an opportunity of having the route given a fair chance of being analysed by some potential buyer, being put forward and turned into a functioning railway.

The previous system deliberately discouraged the type of entrepreneurship of which, I hope, the hon. member's party is in favour.

[Supply, February 13th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, this is very pleasant afternoon. I have had kind words from the Bloc and now I have the kinds words from the spokesman of the Reform Party who says he has faith in the wisdom of the minister and he is certain that I will make the right decision. I can assure him that is true, I will make the right decision. I will make that announcement very soon.

However, I should point out that the chair of the committee, who is a very hard working member from Winnipeg South, is not necessarily speaking for the minister in communications. We like to have free and open discussion in committees, be it my parliamentary secretary or the committee chair or member of the Liberal caucus who happens to be there. We know that members can make up their own minds what they do and how they vote. We have a very lose, open system in the Liberal Party, not one that is dominated by any authoritarian rules. I would be happy to have a discussion with him face to face rather than through intermediaries at any time that he wishes.

[Supply, February 13th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, regarding shipbuilding, the hon. member must realize that the Canadian government has had several ships built for the Canadian Armed Forces.

After this program, which involved the construction of 12 ships, was completed, this government went on to have another 12 ships built; these ships were smaller than the big frigates built during the 1980s.

We are continuing this program, which, incidentally, comes under National Defence and not under Transport Canada, as well as programs administered by Industry Canada to ensure a shipbuilding capacity is maintained in Canadian shipyards.

It is true that we do not have the equivalent of the Jones Act he referred to. The Americans themselves are currently considering the possibility that the Jones Act may no longer be relevant, that it may no longer be useful to them or to the merchant navy.

This is a very important issue and I do not think that we can just follow the American example; the Americans themselves may well feel that exportation costs are too high because of the Jones Act and that the time may have come to amend the act.

[Supply, February 13th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise in this House to explain the government's policy in the area of transport. It certainly seems necessary in light of the comments I heard. I am surprised to see that the opposition members do not really understand what the transport policy is all about. They do not appreciate the details and how transportation is Canada's lifeline.

Many hon. members this side of the House have eloquently explained today many aspects of the government's position. I would particularly like to pay tribute to my parliamentary secretary from Hamilton. He has done such an outstanding job with the legislation and in the debate we have just had in putting forward the reasoning behind many of the decisions on transportation. His service in the House and on the committee has been outstanding. He has explained in great deal and with great eloquence the progress that has been made in the House and by the government as a whole outside the House in modernizing the transportation system in Canada.

When we took office three years ago we were confronted with very serious problems in the transportation area. We had a transportation system that was overbuilt, over-regulated and oversubsidized. It was a system that despite previous successes of which there have been many was degenerating to the point where it could become a damaging factor to Canada's economic competitiveness and international trade.

As a result of a far-reaching modernization program which is under way we now have very beneficial effects in the tourism trade and in the job creation area in the transportation field.

The government is basically moving out of operations in the transportation sector which will allow us to focus on the proper role, that of policy making and safety regulation. At the government level, now that we are out of operations and the detail they led to, we can look at a bigger picture which for me means maximizing the benefits of a modernized transportation for Canadians. The benefits can be found in three key areas and our transport system is geared toward these three objectives.

First, we need to use our modernized transportation system to improve our competitiveness in international trade. Second, we need to make sure that our transportation system boosts tourism in Canada. Third, a major interest of the government is using our transportation system to increase and strengthen our links with the Asia Pacific region.

By the end of this century, if I could spend just a moment on the last point, the Asia Pacific region may well be home to 60 per cent of the world's population, 50 per cent of global production and 40 per cent of world trade.

As the Prime Minister has said many times, the Asia Pacific region is important to Canada and Canada is a Pacific nation. This means there are real opportunities for the whole country but particularly in western Canada and in my home province of British Columbia, our gateway to the Pacific region.

We must improve the effectiveness of this gateway and maximize the advantages to Canada of this geographic opportunity. That and the other two objectives I outlined a moment ago work toward the overarching goal of the government of job creation for Canadians.

I will quickly go over the progress in these areas. We have taken major strides in modernizing the transportation system. In the air transportation sector, for example, we are commercializing Canada's federal airports. Under the national airports policy announced in June 1994 we have begun leasing Canada's largest and busiest airports to local control. This policy has been very successful and has been embraced by communities right across the country that recognize the economic potential of their areas depends upon their maximizing the advantages their airports present and in turn having those airports best serve the requirements of their local communities and economies.

To date 17 regional local airports have been transferred to local control and some 40 others are in the process of being transferred. Under the same policy 11 small airports have been placed under local control and a further 23 are in the process of being transferred to the local community.

I found interesting-and I listened with great care-the comments of the opposition with respect to Pearson airport. Thanks to the government's airport policy this airport is now like the other major airports of this country: Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and others. Thanks to that policy Pearson is now managed by a local not for profit corporation representing local interests of the greater Toronto area.

The Greater Toronto Airport Authority which now runs Pearson recently announced plans to invest $2 billion in upgrading the airport. This will, in turn, turn that airport into the premier gateway for the European traffic of the whole of the central heartland of North America.

I certainly applaud the vision of the airport authority and the energy with which it is applying itself to achieving that goal. I might point out that the investment it has proposed is substantially higher than that which was originally proposed by other airport management groups in the past.

In addition, we have transferred the air navigation system of Canada to Nav Canada, another not for profit corporation. This transaction put $1.5 billion into the federal treasury to reduce the deficit in that year and the debt as well. Safety will continue to be monitored by Transport Canada. That will be the highest priority of Nav Canada.

Two years ago we signed an agreement with the United States known as Open Skies which created a whole new area of opportunity for transboundary traffic. It was part of our new liberalized air transportation policy that the airlines themselves could choose what cities they would fly between, at what price, at what frequency and at what times. The benefits of open skies have been enormous. In the 14 months following that agreement there was a greater increase in traffic with the United States than in the previous six years.

The agreement has created well over 100 new links between American and Canadian cities. Let me point out it is not just between major airports, but also smaller airports, smaller communities. Cities in the 100,000 to 250,000 population range also are getting the direct links. Indeed some cities that are smaller than that are having direct links established with American cities to the south of the border.

Vancouver and Toronto in particular have benefited tremendously from open skies and the open market that exists now in transborder air travel. Of course, hundreds of thousands, millions of Canadian travellers have benefited as well.

Let us not forget that when I talk of airports, when I talk of airlines, when I talk of rail, when I talk of ships, when I talk of any transportation mode or system, I am talking about the consumer, the user who takes advantage of those systems. That is what the systems are for and why it is so important that they be efficient.

Let me quickly point out that other areas of air travel have come along. I should mention Greyhound which is now flying in Canada and provides low cost travel between Vancouver and Ottawa. That was an innovative proposal put forward by Greyhound and its partner Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter Ltd. This has expanded travel options and has reduced costs for Canadian travellers throughout the year.

With respect to marine transportation, let me say a quick word about Marine Atlantic. Marine Atlantic is having its subsidies reduced year by year. What was previously an organization which took very large amounts of taxpayers' money is becoming leaner and a great deal more efficient. It is providing equally effective service as it did in the past.

We have taken the strides to modernize the marine sector. I would point out the Canada Marine Act was in this House not so long ago, in fact last year. The Canada Marine Act will implement this country's new marine policy. The policy which was announced in December 1995 calls for the modernization of the marine management and regulatory regime, less red tape and greater efficiency and effectiveness in the marine transportation sector.

It will bring local control, local decision making and private sector involvement to Canada's ports. It is much the same approach as we have taken in the air sector.

The policy calls for commercialization of the operations of the St. Lawrence Seaway. In July last year Transport Canada signed a letter of intent with a group representing the St. Lawrence Seaway's major shippers and carriers. The goal is to establish a not for profit corporation which will operate the seaway more efficiently than the current system. Decisions with respect to the seaway will be made at a level which is more appropriate, namely the users of the seaway, the people who are affected by the operations and the efficiency of the operations and obviously the costs that are charged for use of the seaway itself.

On a separate track I should add we are also in touch with the Americans. We are creating a more efficient binational co-ordination group to manage seaway problems which are of a binational nature. It is my belief that working together Canada and the U.S. can better co-ordinate seaway management, reduce the duplication of facilities and ultimately save both countries, not to mention seaway users, substantial amounts of money.

The marine policy calls ultimately for the modernization of marine pilotage and the commercialization of ferry services.

I mentioned the bill was in the House. I trust it will be back in the House very soon so we can all proceed with it. As there are members of the opposition here, I will say that I really appreciate the work they did at the committee stage.

There were two committee stages for the bill, once before the bill was put in and once after the bill was before them. They worked hard. The ultimate report was unanimous, which shows that we had very good co-operative spirit, which sometimes people watching on television what goes on in this House do not fully understand. At the committee level, my friends in the Bloc and in Reform get together with friends from this side of the House and work effectively in the interests of improving legislation.

I pay tribute to the opposition members who took part co-operatively, constructively and effectively. When the bill finally comes back and members see it, they will see that the suggestions they have made have been given full consideration in the final writing of the legislation.

I will turn to rail transportation. We must have port activity co-ordinated with transportation that reaches beyond our country's waterways. That means grain transportation in particular, which is often handled by both rail and marine modes of transportation. One reason our government is working so hard to ensure the rail sector becomes more efficient is our concern over the impact of rail costs on bulk users such as those dealing with grain, potash and many other commodities.

The new Canada Transportation Act brought in last year gives railways the flexibility to compete by reducing costly excessive regulation and red tape. The new act cuts the number of railway actions or decisions that require government approval from 200 down to 40. I am not happy with having 40 still on the list. I would prefer to have that number come down even further. Such reduction in red tape, bureaucracy and delay will benefit not only the railways themselves but obviously their customers through lower rail rates.

We will again be looking at regulation in the railways in the year 1999. It is scheduled to take place at that time. Once again I expect we will have a valuable discussion on that in the light of the experience we have gained since the introduction of the new transportation act last year.

The new act shifts the focus from rail line abandonment, which we had in the past, toward the development of a healthy shortline industry. It is not generally known that Canada has some 31 functioning railroads, not just the big two that we hear about. Many of those 31 are small railroads established as a result of a group of local people taking over a line that was abandoned by the majors because with their cost structures it was no longer economic to run it.

Canadian National Railways is now a private and dynamic company. I believe it has the tools it needs to compete. Putting CN in the private sector was a very important step in our plan for modernizing rail transportation. It puts CP and CN, the two major systems, on a level playing field. Most important, it subjects CN to the discipline of the marketplace.

This will help ensure, and I think it will guarantee the survival of the railway. The gross proceeds of the sale of the shares has brought the Canadian taxpayers a little more than $2 billion. It has similarly reduced the debt and deficit as was the case with the Nav Canada sale.

Much has been made today by my hon. friends opposite about subsidies. I do believe they should check the record of the government over the last three years. Since coming to office we have eliminated close to $700 million in subsidies to the transportation sector.

As my parliamentary secretary, the member for Hamilton West, so ably pointed out in response to questions and in his presentation to the House this morning, VIA Rail will see its annual subsidy chopped virtually in half by fiscal year 1997-98. I might add, that is substantially less than it was a few years before.

With respect to VIA Rail hon. members should know that I have examined very carefully VIA Rail's application to expand service through the Rocky Mountains. I am well aware of the concerns that have been raised about the possibility of VIA Rail competing with Rocky Mountain Railtours which is a private sector company.

I have listened to and I have read what the members of the Standing Committee on Transport have said on the issue. I have had discussions with my parliamentary secretary on numerous occasions and also with members of the Liberal caucus from British Columbia and elsewhere in the country on the subject. I might add that I have received hundreds of letters from all parts of British Columbia and elsewhere on the subject. I have also met with representatives of VIA and of Rocky Mountain Railtours, both of whom made excellent presentations, both of whom made presentations more than once. I have listened very carefully to all points of view and I will be announcing my decision on the matter very soon.

This country was built by transportation. In the 203 years since Alexander Mackenzie first crossed the continent from Montreal to the Pacific tidewater, we have built this country on our transportation system.

Our government has changed the Canadian transportation system and it has changed it for the better. But one thing will not change. One thing which Transport Canada and myself as the minister put above all others is safety. We not only want efficient transportation systems in every mode, we not only want systems which lock in together in a seamless web, we at every level in every area want to assure Canadians that they have the safest transportation system that we can provide, the safest that is, within all reasonable expectations. That is where we see our role as being critical. I can assure all members of the House that safety will remain Transport Canada's major objective in the years ahead.

[Aéroports De Montréal, February 12th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his suggestion but, before making any decision, I must first look at the judgment handed down this morning in Montreal.

I will do so and so will my officials. Once this review is completed, I will immediately inform the hon. member accordingly, and we will take any action required. However, let us not forget that ADM is a local administration and that the Montreal airports come under its responsibility and not that of the federal Department of Transport.

[Aéroports De Montréal, February 12th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. As the member pointed out, the judgment was just delivered this morning, in Montreal, by the Quebec superior court.

I have not had an opportunity to take a look at it. This decision must be analyzed in depth and in detail before I can comment on it. I certainly hope to do so in the coming days, and I have already instructed my department's officials to take a thorough look at the judgment.