Parliamentary and Cabinet Overview

Summary: 

Transport Canada’s Parliamentary and Cabinet Affairs Team is located within the Executive Offices’ Corporate Secretariat and serves as a liaison between the Minister’s Office, the Deputy Ministers, the Department and the Privy Council Office (PCO) on all parliamentary and Cabinet matters. The team is responsible for:  

  1. monitoring parliamentary activities

  1. providing strategic advice on parliamentary fora, Standing Committees and the Minister’s legislative agenda

  1. coordinating petitions, order paper questions and tablings 

  1. preparing briefing packages for Cabinet and Cabinet Committee meetings

  1. providing advice and coordinating the development, review and approval process for all Cabinet proposals led by the Department and for proposals led by other government departments where the Minister is asked to co-sign 

  1. reporting and briefing on upcoming parliamentary and Cabinet business

Background:

1. Parliamentary Business 

Tablings 

Government Response to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (TRAN) Supply Chain Study – To be tabled March 16, 2023.

Committees 

During the Fall 2022 session, TRAN held 21 meetings on a variety of subjects. Namely, TRAN studied: 

  • reducing Red Tape and Costs on Rural and Urban Canadian Airports (five meetings) 

  • anticipated Labour Shortages in the Canadian Transportation Sector (six meetings) 

  • impact of Commercial Shipping on Shoreline Erosion (two meetings) 

  • air Passenger Protection Regulations (four meetings) 

  • inter-City Transport by Bus in Canada (two meetings) 

During the Fall 2022 session, the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications (TRCM) conducted an extensive study of C-11, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts. Previously, the Committee had been studying the impacts of climate change on critical infrastructure in the transportation and communications sectors and the consequential impacts on their interdependencies. The Committee is anticipated to resume this work once they have completed their legislative review.  

Since 2022, TC officials have appeared at the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP) once on the subject of the Greening Government Strategy. The Committee has also invited TC officials to appear during the week of March 6 on Report 6 of the Auditor General, concerning Arctic Waters Surveillance.  

In addition to the PACP appearance on Arctic Waters Surveillance, the Standing Committee on National Defence (NDDN) is also studying the subject, which could result in an invitation to appear before the Committee. 

Legislation 

TC is involved in two pieces of legislation, namely: 

Bill C-33, the Strengthening the Port System and Railway Safety in Canada Act, which was introduced on November 17, 2022 in the House of Commons. 

  • Status: Awaiting Second Reading in the House of Commons. Speeches have been developed in consultation with TC groups and the Canadian Coast Guard. 

Bill S-6, An Act respecting regulatory modernization, which was introduced on March 31, 2022 in the Senate.  

  • Status: Awaiting Second Reading in the House of Commons. TBS has not made requests for speeches to Transport Canada to support debate in the House of Commons. 

2. Cabinet Business

Cabinet Committees 

The Minister of Transport is a member of Full Cabinet and the following Cabinet Committees: 

  • Economy, Inclusion and Climate ‘A’ 

  • Canada and the World 

  • Safety, Security and Emergencies 

  • Sub-Committee on the Federal Response to the Coronavirus Disease. 

The Minister is also an ex-officio member of the Task Force on Services to Canadians and often attends meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Economy, Inclusion and Climate ‘B’, where the majority of TC proposals are considered. In addition, he is asked to attend meetings of the Incident Response Group, as needed, depending on the nature of the incident. 

Considerations:

  • When the Minister leads the presentation of a proposal at Cabinet, the Deputy Minister is asked to attend the meeting via Secret Video Conferencing or Secure Phone. On occasion, a Deputy Minister can attend the meeting in person, depending on space restrictions in the Cabinet room. The Cabinet Affairs Team provides an E-Cabinet tablet to the Deputy Minister to view official Cabinet documents prior to the meetings.  

  • For Parliamentary committee meetings, the meetings are starting to be more and more in person, but often have a hybrid option. In addition, all material presented by a department has to be disclosed entirely within 120 days of the appearance as per the Government of Canada proactive disclosure guidelines.    

  • The Department is seeking inclusion in Budget 2023 of multiple TC initiatives requiring legislative amendments through the Budget Implementation Act, pending Government House Leader and Finance Minister approval. 

  • Throughout the last Parliamentary session committee appearances by TC officials, members raised issues concerning airport delays, supply chain challenges, progress on the Lac-Mégantic Rail Bypass, High Frequency Rail, intercity bus service, the Air Passenger Protection Regulations and labour shortages in the transportation sector. It is expected that the Department might be asked to appear for an update on these topics that are expected to continue to be top of mind for the upcoming session.  

  • In terms of Order Paper Questions, the last Parliamentary session saw questions relating to High Frequency Rail, Lac-Mégantic Bypass, aviation medicals and COVID-19 measures, various Transport Canada expenditures, contribution programs and Government of Canada policies. With the exception of COVID-19 measures, the other topics are expected to also be top of mind for the upcoming session.