Lisa Raitt

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, what I can say is what I have reiterated before. In aviation safety, what we see as a decrease is predominantly a result of the transfer of the airport's capital assistance subprogram to reflect a new architecture or a new structure within Transport Canada.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, we acted decisively on April 23 and made our recommendations in response to the Transportation Safety Board.

Today the U.S. department of transport brought in its emergency actions, which mirror ours in some cases. I can say that in comparison with the Canadian position, Canada's actions go further than both of the advisories the U.S. put out today.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the comments and the review of all we have accomplished and all we have tried to do with respect to rail safety over the past number of years. Of course, we can always do better. We will always strive to do better, and we will continue to take that path at Transport Canada. That being said, I am satisfied with the reaction we have been receiving to all of these protective directions, emergency orders, and regulations we are putting in place or announcing.

I will take a moment to show that it is not just internally that we should be happy with ourselves. Externally we have heard from people like Claude Dauphin, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, who stated:

FCM applauds the federal government's response to the tragedy in Lac Mégantic and to the rail safety recommendations that emerged from it.

He went on to say:

The government's commitment to increase the safety of the transportation of dangerous goods, and to require shippers and railways to carry additional insurance, directly respond to calls from FCM's national rail safety working group.

As well, it is important to note that Rebecca Blaikie, who is the NDP president, said on April 23, in response to our comments to the Transportation Safety Board, that she thinks this is a step in the right direction. She said she was glad to see the government taking action.

The member for Brossard—La Prairie also said:

It is a good move. It is a step in the right direction.

He also said that the three-year period is the best thing that can be done.

The mayor of Lac-Mégantic, with whom we have a very good relationship, a respectful one, and it is important for us to consult with her, as she is the centre of so much of what's been happening recently in rail safety, said she was satisfied with the new measures from the federal government.

The chair of the Transportation Safety Board said she was encouraged by our strong response to the board recommendations.

Claude Dauphin also said:

The new safety measures announced today respond directly to our call for concrete action and are another major step forward in improving the safety of Canada's railways and the communities around them.

I also want to thank the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, which commended us for requiring emergency response assistance plans for the shipment of crude oil, ethanol, and other flammable liquids by rail. It is something they asked for. We are continually encouraged by the fact that they will work with us on this matter as we move forward.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, as I have already indicated, what the main estimates will show us is that aviation safety decreased as a result of a transfer of the airports capital assistance sub-program. It is not because of what the member said.

In terms of any reductions in either marine safety or in rail safety, they have all been administrative matters. They have nothing to do with safety. We would never cut inspector positions as a result.

With respect to rail safety, we started in 2007 on this path by studying rail. We are the ones who brought forward amendments to the Railway Safety Act. Yes, they were passed by everybody, but we moved them forward because we wanted to make it a safer system, recognizing it is safe. In fact, it has been quoted as being safe even by the former member for Trinity—Spadina, who said, “Shipping materials by train are...very safe and the record is really quite good”. She said that in October 2013, recognizing that the system was safe, and I agree with her on that topic.

We want to make it safer and we are reacting to what the Transportation Safety Board is indicating to us as it unfolds what happened at Lac-Mégantic.

We have indicated protective directives need to be in place on sharing information with municipalities to deal with first responder issues.

We also made a protective directive with respect to prosper classification, knowing that this crude oil in particular was very unique and very different in the way it reacted.

We also directed, through a protective direction, to require shippers to develop ERAPs for the flammable liquids that I noted before. I have set up an ERAP task force. I have reached out to industry. We have had working groups.

We have been on this issue since we became government. We have never relented on this issue. We absolutely believe in the health and safety of Canadians. We will do all we can to ensure that Canadians are safe and that we get our goods to market at the same time.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, first of all, let me quote from the Auditor General's report in general, where it states that: “We did not examine the safety of federal and other railways’ operations. We also did not examine the overall safety of Canada’s rail industry”.

I stand by my comments about the safety of our rail industry and the importance of making it safer.

With respect to the recommendations, we did thank the Auditor General for his report and his recommendations because, clearly, a 26% audit is unacceptable. That is why the department was asked for a rail safety Office of the Auditor General action plan, which I have a copy of. The department is marked against it in terms of benchmarking. It has provided complete timelines; timely completion dates, which are needed; and it is monitored by me and my office on an ongoing basis.

With respect to audits and auditors in training, in the spring of this year, all 100 inspectors will have the ability to conduct audits and they will be trained up. We will continue to hit those marks of 30,000-plus inspections each year, which are inspections that are exceeding greatly what we have done in the past.

I can tell members that I said, when this report came out first in November, that should the department not be adhering to its action plan, I would not hesitate to ask the Auditor General to come back to review to ensure that this work is carried out. I stand by that statement now as well.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, many years ago, the airports that were under the control of Transport Canada were divested into airport authorities. They were put into the hands of local communities through a ground lease to ensure that the development, the management, the marketing of these airports were done by local community members on a smaller scale, and it has proven to be very successful. Airport authorities are the ones that set their charges. They are the ones that set their rates. They are the ones that ensure airlines come in and fly out and that passengers make it to them.

Our government has made some substantial infrastructure investments in and around airports in Canada through our economic action plans because we recognize the importance of air transport to a greater economy and to a better economy. While we focus on safety and security, we also want to ensure that as part of our entire economic plan, we want to include the air sector as part of that. My Transport Department has done an excellent job of analyzing air sector service needs and it will report to me in the future with respect to the outcomes and the analysis.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, I do not know what the hon. member has against pilots, but they are well trained and they can absolutely be trained in other fields as well I am sure.

With respect to air safety in general, despite substantial increases in traffic, Canada actually boasts the lowest rate of accidents in the modern era. Regardless if someone is a pilot, or a teamster, or a marine operator, the fundamental aspect in transportation that runs through all of these is adherence to safety standards, and that is understood in whatever mode of transportation one is in.

Transport Canada inspectors have small and large airlines that they inspect thousands of times per year, and the proof of the pudding is this. Aviation accidents in Canada have actually decreased by 25% in the last decade and are now at an all time low. The safety of Canadians is our top priority and we, through Transport Canada, continue to deliver on that.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, as I have indicated before, in the aviation field on itself we have already indicated that the number of accidents has decreased. The foundation of which we have approached safety with respect to airline safety for many years now is through safety management systems. It is renowned as the leading way to deal with it.

Indeed, the chair of the Transportation Safety Board, Wendy Tadros, said that they are “a powerful, internationally recognized management tool to help organizations find trouble before trouble finds them”. She also said, “SMS is the right way to go”.

Quite frankly, that is exactly the direction we will continue to move in. With the recommendations from the Auditor General, we continue to ensure we give all the training and the equipment we can to our auditors to carry out the duties they should do under SMS.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, fundamentally, we want to make sure that we are protecting the safety of Canadians and the safety of the environment, and as we make sure that we develop our resources responsibly and we open up those markets in other parts of the world, we want to transport our goods to market in the most environmentally responsible way. Part of that is with marine shipments. We know that as we increase the number of marine shipments through the west coast or the east coast, we will be faced with increased risk.

We want to ensure that we are ahead of that. That is why we asked for a panel, chaired by a very well-respected captain, Captain Gordon Houston, who used to be the chair and CEO of Port Metro Vancouver, to look at what we currently have in terms of response and in terms of the system to take a safe system and make it even safer. He and his panel had 45 recommendations for the government, and we are taking them under due consideration and are ensuring that we consult with communities and get to the right place.

The importance of the world-class tanker is not just whether we are doing things as best we can for Canada. It is our reputation as well. It is world class for a reason. We are leading the world, when it comes to this kind of development, in ensuring that our marine transportation is as clean as possible and as safe as possible, and in the case of a spill, that we can respond to it as quickly as possible. The final piece is that the polluter is the one who pays and not the Canadian taxpayer.

[Business of Supply, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, I take the opportunity to very much thank the hon. member for her good analysis and overview of what we are trying to do at Transport Canada with respect to marine safety. I would also note that next week is Safe Boating Week, and I think it is important that we remember safety in recreational boating too. People should wear their life jackets and make sure they have everything they need to have on board for recreational boating.

I had the opportunity, as the hon. member said, to take a flight with the national aerial surveillance program. This is a unique program. The United States does not have this program. We have invested in this program, and we will make sure we invest in it more so that they can actually increase the number of hours they are out there patrolling the skies and being our eyes in the skies.

Specifically, I was particularly pleased to note that two members of the crew were women, so they have a nice gender balance in this program. It was very nice to be able to take off with them and to have the ability to view the paths of the vessels in the Vancouver area and to see the equipment they have, the sensor ability they have, the technology they have, and the skills they have to see both ships that are in distress and any spills, even as little, as was mentioned, as a litre of oil, because having that quick response is incredibly important.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time. We did not, unfortunately, see anything there with respect to any potential spills, but I can vouch for the absolute professionalism and the abilities of the crew on board this plane.

One other thing the crew told me was that it is such an incredibly valued program that they were the ones who were called upon by the United States to go down to the gulf to help be the eyes in the skies for the movement of oil on water when they had the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the oil spill in that part of the world. I am very proud of the work they did there and the commendations they have received as a result. We are very happy to make sure we continue to fund this program and increase the funding in the program so they can deliver not only on the west coast but also in the Arctic, and of course, on the east coast of Canada as well.