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Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Good morning. It's a pleasure to be back with you at this committee today to discuss Transport Canada's main estimates and supplementary estimates (C).

I thank the committee for inviting me to take part in its work.

I'm joined today by representatives from Transport Canada. Here for the first time as deputy minister is Arun Thangaraj. Ryan Pilgrim is chief financial officer and assistant deputy minister of corporate services.

I'm happy to be here today because it gives me an opportunity to discuss the important work Transport Canada has been undertaking on behalf of Canadians.

As much as I would like to never mention the word “COVID-19” again, we continue to live through some of its lingering impacts. The extraordinary disruptions to travel and supply chains we witnessed over the last two years are, fortunately, improving. We remain focused on addressing these challenges and are determined to learn from many of the lessons learned during that period.

Budget 2023 outlines several initiatives that will fundamentally transform and improve our supply chain. While I'm happy to discuss budget 2023 with you today, you invited me here to talk about the main and supplementary estimates.

Let me go over some of the ambitious actions the estimates are funding: introducing Bill C-33, the strengthening the port system and railway safety in Canada act; making sure Canada's air transport sector is reliable and safe for travellers; taking strong steps to meet our climate commitments; and continuing to strengthen Canada's rail system.

In the supplementary estimates (C) for fiscal year 2022-23, the main estimates for fiscal year 2023-24 and budget 2023, you will find many examples of how committed our government is to ensuring Canadians have a safe, secure and sustainable transportation system.

In my opening remarks, I will highlight a few of those examples.

In the main estimates for Transport Canada, you will see grant funding for the very successful program for incentives for zero-emission vehicles. Our plan to accelerate the deployment of medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles was detailed in budget 2022.

By making zero-emission vehicles more affordable, we are helping to reduce pollution, create more well-paid jobs, and build a cleaner world for generations to come.

The main estimates also include a $270-million increase in funding, when compared to the previous main estimates, for work toward high-frequency rail, a project that I know this committee is very much interested in.

On February 17, I was in Montreal to announce the launch of the request for qualifications phase for the HFR project, in order to identify and qualify up to three top candidates to build a new, dedicated intercity passenger rail network connecting Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Trois-Rivières and Quebec City. The new dedicated rail line will complement and build on Via Rail's current services, driving transformation in the populated corridor. This is the biggest investment in passenger rail in Canada in a generation, and the largest transportation infrastructure project Canada has seen.

You will also notice that Via HFR, a new subsidiary of Via Rail, is included in this year's estimates. Via HFR was created in November 2022 to advance the HFR project. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Via Rail, it will operate in close collaboration with Via Rail but at arm's length. This will allow Via Rail to focus on its core responsibilities while Via HFR will develop the world-class expertise necessary for designing and advancing the HFR project.

In the main estimates for Via Rail, there is funding to support Via Rail capital projects. Also, budget 2023 announced funding for maintenance on trains on Via Rail routes outside of the Quebec City-Windsor corridor.

Our government will also continue to work with all Crown corporations to ensure they have the resources needed to continue to properly deliver their essential services. For example, in the main estimates, there is funding for the Federal Bridge Corporation Limited to help offset the impact of pandemic-related reductions in revenue. Just last month, I announced $75.9 million for the Canadian Transportation Agency to ensure they have the resources they need to address passenger complaints.

Our government was the first in our history to implement the air passenger bill of rights. We have strengthened it since 2019, and we will continue to do so. That's why in budget 2023 we announced proposed changes to the Canada Transportation Act to strengthen airline obligations to compensate passengers for delays and cancellations.

Finally, in the supplementary estimates, you will see funds for eastern Canada ferry services. These funds would help to address increased fuel and labour costs amidst lower revenues due to lingering effects of the global pandemic.

I'm confident that the investments in the supplementary estimates (C) and the main estimates will keep people and goods moving efficiently and effectively and advance a safe, competitive and clean transportation system.

Mr. Chair, that concludes my remarks. I'm happy to answer any questions you and our colleagues may have.

Thank you very much.

Mr. Chair, thank you to my colleague for the question.

Let me start off by saying that with the recovery of the air sector last summer, we witnessed a significant increase in volume, causing significant challenges not only here in Canada but around the world. Those delays and cancellations were extremely frustrating for passengers and for me personally. We worked closely with the sector—with airlines, with airports—on addressing these challenges, and I'm relieved to see that things are improving.

The CTA is an agency that is empowered by the federal government to be a quasi-judicial body to adjudicate complaints. We saw, I admit, an avalanche of complaints based on the challenges we saw last summer. The CTA works at arm's length from government to fulfill its mandate. We've provided resources so that they are able to deal with that unprecedented avalanche of complaints. We will continue to work with the CTA on fulfilling its mandate to deal with customer complaints.

Mr. Chair, I answered the first question by saying that the CTA works at arm's length, and when it comes to human resources decisions, these decisions are made by the CTA.

Second, my colleague understands—and I know he knows—that the challenges that we saw last summer happened because of the air sector's quick recovery from COVID. In fact, we saw those around the world. If his point is that the way to address these challenges is by reducing investment in the CTA, I disagree with him. What we saw was unprecedented challenges and an unprecedented number of complaints. We will be there to help passengers. We will be there to work with the CTA to address this unprecedented avalanche of complaints, and that's why we're providing resources.

It's not only financial resources, Mr. Chair. We're also working with them on streamlining the complaint process so that the CTA is able to deal with these complaints much more quickly and efficiently.

Mr. Chair, I remain focused on ensuring that we have a competitive, accessible and safe air transportation system in Canada. We saw challenges that occurred last summer that exposed some vulnerabilities in our system. Our system is based on a user-pay model. We know, based on the challenges that we saw, that CATSA needs investment. We have not seen new investments in CATSA, in fact—an increase in these fees—since 2010. We know that CATSA needs to be modernized and needs to be improved in order to expedite and improve the passenger experience. This is a necessary investment to modernize CATSA to ensure that it's more efficient and that it's faster. We will continue to work with CATSA and the airline sector to have a competitive and safe air transportation sector.

Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Rogers, for that question and for his advocacy. I know he's been a champion of the services that the ferry services provide to his constituents and the region.

Atlantic ferry services are incredibly important, not only for the residents of Newfoundland and the Atlantic provinces but also for our nation-building initiatives to make sure that our communities are connected.

It was very hard to predict anything during COVID, with the significant disruptions to travel and supply chains, with the significant increase in costs and with labour shortages. We certainly saw unprecedented changes to travel patterns and costs, but we are committed to working with ferry services to ensure that they maintain these essential services that Canadians expect. That's why we provided additional support so that we're able to maintain those services for Canadians.

Mr. Rogers, again, our commitment to that ferry service for the people of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and New Brunswick is deeply rooted because we understand the importance of that service. We are committed to modernizing and providing the assets necessary for that service. Indeed, we are committed to building the new ferries that are needed.

I can provide you with an update on where we are right now, but I am optimistic that we'll have good news soon for the people of Newfoundland about the status of that ferry.

Indeed, Mr. Rogers, the estimates have made a significant commitment to invest in our supply chains and in our transportation infrastructure, whether it is the national trade corridors fund, the airport capital incentive infrastructure program, or the projects at Cap-aux-Meules, for the wharf there, or the airport on the Magdalen Islands. The islands depend significantly on the wharf and the airport for tourism and commercial activities. Our government is committed to investing in these two infrastructure facilities to continue to support tourism and economic activities in the region, which depends on them significantly for jobs that are important to our communities there.

I think the debate about having to do something to reduce emissions is over. All Canadians understand that we have to cut down our pollution from transportation. The transportation sector makes up almost 25% of all of our emissions. Half of those emissions come from light-duty vehicles, and about 25% to 30% of those emissions come from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

If we are serious about reducing pollution, we need to tackle the emissions that are coming from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. This program is meant to provide incentives for businesses, so that they can find alternative technologies to cut emissions from their operations.

Thank you for the question, Mr. Garon.

The Lac-Mégantic bypass project is incredibly important for our government. I know it is in the public interest. I know the Province of Quebec supports it. I know Quebeckers overall support it. It was 10 years ago that we lost 47 Quebeckers in a tragic accident, and our government made a commitment in 2018 to build that bypass.

Now I understand when you build a bypass, when you build a rail project, there needs to be incredible sensitivities in how—

We're open to discussing with landlords, and we've been engaging with landlords for the last couple of years on finding the best way to build this bypass in a thoughtful way, so we're always willing to have these discussions with landlords.

We're in regular contact with CP—

Yes, we are talking to CP on all those issues, but again ultimately it is the Government of Canada that is negotiating land rights with landowners. CP will be responsible for building that project, which will be funded by the federal government and the Province of Quebec.

Mr. Chair, I know my colleagues are extremely enthusiastic about the high-frequency rail, because it's going to build a project that's never been built in Canada. It will transform the corridor for generations. It will be fast, Mr. Chair. The current proposal has trains going as fast as 200 kilometres an hour. Having said that, we're actually inviting other members of the private sector to propose even faster trains.

I have good news for my colleague. This train will be fast, will be reliable and will be electric. I know that many Canadians and Quebeckers can't wait to ride this new train, which by the way has been talked about for generations. It's only—

Mr. Chair, my colleague just made a statement that I cannot just let go without responding to. I don't know why he's not taking yes for an answer.

We're building the HFR project for the modern history of Canada, for the era of—

Mr. Bachrach, thank you for the question.

It gives me the opportunity to say that our government and I personally want the best project for Canadians. As you said, this is an opportunity for us to build something that will modernize rail service in Canada.

We want to achieve several public policy objectives. One of them is connecting communities. The second objective is to reduce emissions from transportation. The third is offering a convenient, affordable and fast service for those who want to use this rail service.

I'm glad to see that you support our objective of seeking expertise from the private sector to achieve that—