The Canadian Transportation Agency says the review of airlines, railways and marine transport is to keep up with consumer expectations
Canada’s transportation industry is getting another review, this one by the government agency that regulates Canada’s railway, airline and marine shipping industries.
Scott Streiner, chief executive officer of the Canadian Transportation Agency, announced May 26 that the agency will undertake a full review of the transportation-related rules and regulations that it administers.
In a speech to the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto, Streiner said the agency will undertake a series of initiatives aimed at:
- modernizing transportation regulations
- improving data collection, engagement and communication with stakeholders
- enhancing the agency’s ability to resolve disputes between service providers and their clients, primarily through mediation rather than adjudication
Read Also
Farming Smarter receives financial boost from Alberta government for potato research
Farming Smarter near Lethbridge got a boost to its research equipment, thanks to the Alberta government’s increase in funding for research associations.
For the railway industry, the regulatory review is expected to “prompt some pretty fundamental questions,” Streiner said.
For example, can the agency “find a more timey way of updating regulated rail rates” and “should there be changes to rail interswitching rules?”
“These are complex issues that will need broad input,” Streiner said. “To get that, we will actively engage a wide range of stakeholders, including the transportation industry (and) shippers.”
The CTA’s regulatory review comes close on the heels of another federal review that was completed late last year.
Just a few months ago, a federally appointed review panel led by former parliamentarian David Emerson completed an 18-month review of the Canada Transportation Act, the federal statute that gives the agency its authority to enforce regulations, make rulings and resolve disputes.
The review produced a 286-page report entitled Pathways: Connecting Canada’s Transportation System to the World, which recommended the eventual elimination of the railway revenue caps.
The cap limits the amount of revenue railways can generate from moving a tonne of grain to market.
The Emerson report recommended that the revenue cap be modernized immediately and eliminated and eliminated within seven years in an effort to ensure a more “commercially grounded” railway transportation system.
Ottawa has indicated it will conduct industry-wide consultations before acting on any of the key recommendations in the report.
Meanwhile, the Canada Transportation Agency review is expected to result in a wide variety of modernized regulations that will be drafted before the end of 2017 and implemented in 2018.
Streiner said the agency’s review was prompted by changes in the transportation system, including users’ responses to new trends and new business models.
“The agency needs to transform its regulations and tools and keep pace with changes in business models, user expectations, and best practices in the regulatory field.”
