OTTAWA - June 6, 2007 - The Canadian Transportation Agency has released its latest Annual Report to Parliament describing its various activities, including some 3,500 rulings made during 2006. The report, tabled in Parliament by Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Lawrence Cannon, is available on the Agency's Web site at www.cta.gc.ca.
During 2006, the Agency continued to resolve transportation-related disputes, including those between shippers and railways; air travellers and airlines; and persons with disabilities and federally-regulated passenger carriers.
"We get thousands of applications every year, simple and complex, said Geoffrey C. Hare, the Agency's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, but each and every one of them is equally important to those affected."
Among the major rulings during the year was the Agency's finding that passenger fees fixed by the Nanaimo Port Authority (NPA) in British Columbia were unjustly discriminatory. The complaints concerned widely different ranges of fees charged for passengers travelling on float planes, fast ferries and provincially-operated BC Ferries. (In an outcome not yet known at the time of the Annual Report's writing, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld this Agency decision by dismissing an NPA appeal on May 30, 2007.)
In the rail transportation sector, the Agency determined that both the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CPR) had exceeded their prescribed revenue caps for the movement of Western grain. This marked the first time since inception of the revenue caps in 2000 that both railways had exceeded the maximum amounts they were entitled to.
The year also saw Air Canada, as a result of the Agency's complaint adjudication process, announce that it would enhance its reservation system to give persons with disabilities a greater variety of options when booking their travel online.
Still with accessible transportation, the Agency developed the fifth in a series of Codes of Practice intended to remove accessibility barriers for persons with disabilities in air, rail and marine passenger terminals. The Agency's new Code and an accompanying Guide will be officially launched later this month.
The Agency's 2006 Annual Report also contains a more detailed section on air travel complaints, the volume of which increased slightly over the previous year. The number of complaints is approximately consistent with the relative market share of domestic and foreign air carriers and the increased use of air travel by Canadians.
Major air-related rulings by the Agency focused on air carrier liability related to the carriage of animals, mandatory check-in times at airports and airline surcharges for the transportation and handling of firearms.
The Canadian Transportation Agency is a quasi-judicial tribunal which administers the Government of Canada's legislation and policies for maintaining an economic, efficient and accessible system of transportation within Canada.
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For further information, please contact:
Marc Comeau
Acting Director, Communications
(819) 953-9961
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