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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
the Port in Sept-Iles and be carried to
the right markets around the world.
We work with private industry to
make sure we can develop the infra-
structure to unlock that potential.
We want to make sure we un-
derstand what’s needed, especially in
communities with mines, in order to
develop economically.
How is Transport Canada im-
proving the safety of the transporta-
tion of dangerous goods?
We have recognized the fact that
there has been an increase in the use of
rail by crude oil companies with great-
er attention from the Canadian public
as to what is going through their com-
munities (when it comes to dangerous
goods). These communities are not
necessarily worried about those goods,
but increased awareness means an op-
portunity for our government to study
the transportation of these materials.
We’re going to have a lot of re-
sources over the next while from in-
dustry looking at this subject.
Where has Canada been success-
ful when it comes to transportation
security? Where do we need to im-
prove?
We’ve been a leader in the air
industry. What we’ve done with our
air security systems through the Cana-
dian Air Transport Security Authority
(
CATSA) has been really successful in
terms of passenger security. CATSA
was created because we wanted conti-
nuity and a seamless approach to air-
port security, and this means that small
airports are as safe and secure as large
airports.
We are very active in rail secu-
rity as well: our rail safety committee
is where people have conversations
about safety and security and they of-
ten catch problems before they start.
On an ongoing basis, we will be
very active in rail and marine safety
and security. We want to spend a lot of
time looking at the prevention of acci-
dents and look at how to proceed with
safety regulations.
We’re adamant about offshore
tanker safety as we have tankers off
of every coast, and we want to be the
world best, so we are looking at im-
proving all of our operations.
How is transportation across the
US border important to our overall
transportation system success?
The Beyond the Border initiative
that Prime Minister Harper signed
with President Obama has been a great
success. It’s about moving logistics
north and south and enabling people
and goods to go anywhere in North
America. We want to make sure that
the flow between countries is smooth,
safe, and secure.
We really have to work together,
“
We’re adamant
about offshore
tanker safety as
we have tank-
ers off of every
coast, and we
want to be the
world best, so
we are looking
at improving all
of our opera-
tions.
MINISTER RAITT
