TRAN Committee Report

Liberal Party of Canada Dissenting Opinion

The Liberal Party of Canada is generally supportive of the recommendations in this report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities regarding innovative transportation technologies. We are aware that new transportation technologies are under development and that they can be marketed commercially while pursuing the twin goals of reducing polluting emissions and enhancing the efficiency and safety of ground and air transportation in urban and rural areas and the Far North. 

We disagree on two fronts. First, we believe the federal government has a role to play in developing new technologies. Unlike the current government, which swears by the private sector alone, we think that the Government of Canada must, as much as it can, continue to provide financial support to entrepreneurs or research centres that are working to develop new technologies or substantially improve on existing ones. In addition, the Government of Canada can and must be a driving force behind research and development in new technologies, in cooperation with the provinces, universities and other private partners.

Our second disagreement concerns urban public transit and, more specifically, the electrification of public transit systems. According to the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development, the proportion of Canadians living in urban areas has increased continually since 1867. In 2011, some 27 million Canadians (81%) lived in urban areas. (An urban area is defined as an area that is home to at least 1,000 people overall and no fewer than 400 people per square kilometer.) Canada’s three largest urban areas — Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal — account for just over one third (35%) of the Canadian population. Electricity is the cleanest form of energy, and we sincerely believe that the federal government has a duty to provide funding to major cities looking to electrify their public transit systems. Electrification will substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease noise pollution.