Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to safety and security for Canadians.

In fact, just last week the Minister of Transport directed her department to take immediate action to improve rail safety and the transportation of dangerous goods. These actions were to specifically address the Transportation Safety Board recommendations related to the tragic incident at Lac-Mégantic.

The minister directed Transport Canada to remove the least crash-resistant DOT-111 tank cars from service; second, to require DOT-111 tank cars that do not meet the standard published in January 2014 in the Canada Gazette, part 1, or any other future standard, to be phased out within three years; third, to require emergency response assistance plans for even a single tank car carrying crude oil, gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and ethanol; fourth, to create a task force that brings municipalities, first responders, railways, and shippers together to strengthen emergency response capacity across the country; and fifth, to require railway companies to reduce the speed of trains carrying dangerous goods and implement other key operating practices.

These are strong measures that will enhance rail safety in Canada. In fact, Wendy Tadros, chair of the Transportation Safety Board, said, “I am encouraged by the Minister of Transport's strong response to the Board's recommendations”.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities was also supportive of these announcements. Its president, Claude Dauphin, stated, “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”.

Even the NDP's transport critic on the issue of phase-out of DOT-111 said that the three-year period is the best thing that can be done.

Furthermore, following the tragic events in Lac-Mégantic, our government quickly took action by implementing several initiatives, including introducing more prescriptive rules to increase railway safety.

The rules require a minimum of two crew members when operating a freight train carrying dangerous goods, and also require that unattended locomotives be secured, that reversers be removed, and that an employee confirm how the equipment has been secured before leaving it at any location. The rules also require railway companies to include their process for testing the effectiveness of handbrakes, in their special instructions.

These actions not only demonstrate our government's commitment to improve railway safety and the transportation of dangerous goods by rail, but they will also considerably further strengthen Canada's regulation and oversight of rail safety and the transportation of dangerous goods.

While we have made important improvements to the safety of our railway system in recent months, our government will continue taking concrete steps to further strengthen co-operation with stakeholders and redouble our efforts to enhance the safety and efficiency of the railway transportation system for all Canadians.

Jeff Watson

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