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In support of the National Year of Road Safety, Transport Canada (TC) attended the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) annual meeting in Victoria, British Columbia, from May 15-19, 2011. The CCMTA annual meeting coincides with Canada Road Safety Week, which ran from May 16-23, 2011. CCMTA is a non-profit organization which, through the collective consultative process, makes decisions on administration and operational matters dealing with licensing, registration, and control of motor vehicle transportation and highway safety.
The opening ceremony included the presence of the Honourable Luke Ouellette, Minister of Transportation in Alberta, who launched Canada’s new Road Safety Strategy (RSS) 2011-2015. The ultimate goal of RSS is to continue to reduce fatalities and serious injuries caused by collisions on Canada’s roads, and to make progress towards making Canada’s roads the safest in the world.
The event attracted over 300 delegates representing federal, provincial, and territorial governments and industry partners. In addition, there were 29 exhibitors, including TC’s Road Safety Directorate represented by Cybèle Trottier-Vogelsang, Chief of Communications.
For the past 16 years, the Jennie Howie Government Member of the Year Award has recognized outstanding contributors to CCMTA. This year, TC’s Director of Road Safety Programs, Kim Benjamin, and Paul Gutoskie, Manager of Road Safety Vision, were jointly honoured by CCMTA and received the award for their timely and substantial work towards the development and launch of Road Safety Strategy (RSS) 2011-2015.
“These two individuals have both spearheaded numerous tasks in a very timely manner over the past year and have indeed contributed significantly overall to the organization,” said CCMTA President Steve Martin. “Kim Benjamin, who championed this task, demonstrated superior management and organizational skills by charting a course of action for the development of our new strategy. In addition, Paul Gutoskie’s expert knowledge of Canadian and International road safety issues helped propel RSS 2015 into the league of, in my view, one of the best developed strategies among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Countries” added Mr. Martin.
TC would also like to recognize the work and effort of several other employees in the Road Safety Directorate who were involved in this initiative. “TC can be rightly proud of all of you. Thanks to all of you and thanks for your continued dedication towards the National Day of Road Safety, Canada’s Year, the United Nation’s Decade, and of course, Canada’s RSS 2011-2015,” noted Director General of Road Safety, Kash Ram.
The CCMTA annual meeting and Canada Road Safety Week highlighted the important message to ensure that all drivers play a part in ensuring that road safety comes first. TC is asking everyone to Rethink Road Safety to help make Canada’s roads the safest in the world.