Ottawa, Ontario
October 29, 2013
Check against delivery
Introduction
Thank you for inviting me to join you.
As former President and CEO of the Toronto Port Authority, I was honoured this summer when the Prime Minister asked me to be Minister of Transport.
I truly appreciate the dedication and skill that so many people bring to keeping Canadian transportation safe and secure.
Conferences like this provide valuable opportunities for those of us in government to talk to people from industry and other groups and discuss how we can work together.
I’m pleased to have this opportunity to highlight our government’s work to strengthen the security of Canada’s transportation system.
While our initiatives in security address all transportation modes, I am going to focus largely on security at our land borders and in aviation, and then connect that to our larger vision of transportation.
We all know too well that safety and security cannot be an afterthought—that they are critical to transportation in Canada and around the world.
Canadians travel a great deal. In fact, in 2011, Canadian airports processed close to 80 million passengers – a 40 percent increase from a decade earlier.
Our government is pursuing an ambitious trade agenda that requires safe and secure supply chains to move products to markets.
And it is no secret that in today’s global economy, businesses rely on solid transportation security.
Beyond the Border investments
This confidence is especially important to maintain and strengthen the Canada-U.S. trade relationship.
That is why, in 2011, President Obama and Prime Minister Harper announced the Beyond the Border Action Plan.
Through it, we are working together, not just at the border, but beyond the border, to enhance our security and accelerate the legitimate flow of people, goods and services.
Under this plan, we are supporting various initiatives.
For example, the Port of Prince Rupert is taking part in a pilot project to validate and shape the Integrated Cargo Security Strategy that has been developed under the principle “cleared once, accepted twice.”
The aim of this Strategy is to develop a harmonized approach to screening inbound cargo arriving from offshore.
This has the potential to result in increased security and the expedited movement of secure cargo across the Canada-U.S. border.
Last spring, we also announced significant investments for Canadian land border crossings.
Funding for these projects totals some 127 million dollars, and will expand and modernize facilities at four of our ports of entry: Lacolle, in Quebec; Lansdowne at the Thousand Islands in Ontario; Emerson in Manitoba; and North Portal in Saskatchewan.
These investments will accomplish three main goals:
- increase capacity for commercial traffic at these crossings;
- reduce wait times for all vehicles crossing the border; and
- strengthen border security.
And finally, we continue to develop the Detroit River International Crossing, which will support growing trade and traffic at the busiest Canada-U.S. commercial border crossing.
Aviation security
Our government is also paying a great deal of attention to aviation security.
I recently attended the 38th Session of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal.
In recent years, Canada has worked extensively with ICAO to demonstrate our commitment to air security.
Aviation security requires a united, international effort and ICAO is the right organization to deal with it.
That is why Canada is a strong supporter of the organization and was proud this year that ICAO agreed to keep its headquarters in Montreal for at least another two decades.
Since 2006, the Government of Canada has committed more than 2 billion dollars to strengthen aviation security. This investment has allowed us to act on several fronts.
Through our partners at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), we are investing in new technology to improve passenger security and convenience.
This includes installing full-body scanners – now with generic “stick figures” – and upgrading baggage-screening equipment at all major airports.
This way, baggage transiting through a U.S. airport will not have to be rescreened, thus saving passengers time and air carriers money.
We are making travel documents more secure by issuing internationally recognized, ICAO-compliant electronic passports—commonly referred to as ePassports.
We are also working to make air cargo more secure in Canada in three key ways.
First, by enhancing regulations in our Air Cargo Security Program, we are strengthening supply chain security and encouraging shippers, handlers and freight forwarders to join the Program.
This allows screening at the most cost-effective point along the supply chain, as determined by industry, while keeping screened cargo secure until an air carrier places it on an aircraft.
It is a balanced approach that maximizes security and efficiency for both travellers and goods.
Second, we are applying the Beyond the Border agreement to air transportation.
Under the agreement, Canada and the US have cooperated to develop security controls to screen air cargo. This way, when it travels between our countries, cargo is screened only once.
Also under Beyond the Border, we are facilitating travel for pre-screened low-risk travellers.
This means that trusted travellers are now eligible for faster service with their NEXUS cards by using designated security lines for pre-board screening at many Canadian and American airports.
Finally, last year, the Canadian government put in place the new Canadian Aviation Security Regulations, 2012.
These regulations are helping to improve the behind-the-scenes security management at airports, as well as the overall security of our air transportation system.
Gateways
The investments we are making in aviation security and at our land border crossings fit with our “Gateways and Trade Corridors” strategy, so let me briefly touch on its importance.
With the rapid evolution of global supply chains, Canada needed a model to address efficiency and reliability across all of our transportation modes.
The Gateway approach does this, by linking our North American transportation and trade system to our initiatives in international trade.
It integrates sea and air ports, rail and roadways – to minimize bottlenecks in our transportation system.
And it complements the Beyond the Border initiative, since our continued collaboration in North America supports, not only markets on this continent, but also around the globe.
The Gateway model helps us to make our transportation system more efficient in order to better reach global markets.
It will also help us to work with various partners – governments, nations and the private sector partners – to make these systems more safe and secure.
This is of course an opportunity for me to speak about the historic trade agreement our Government signed with the European Union two weeks ago.
This agreement will create thousands of jobs for Canadians and give Canadian businesses access to a half-billion new customers.
It will open new markets to Canadian exporters throughout Europe and generate significant benefits, jobs and opportunities for all Canadians.
The benefits of this agreement are equivalent to creating almost 80,000 new jobs.
Speech from the Throne
I should add that our goals in transportation also fit with the direction the government outlined recently in the Speech from the Throne.
Our priorities are to create jobs and opportunities for Canadians by building the economy, keeping taxes low and ensuring the safety of Canadian families and communities.
This approach has served us well.
Today, we lead the G-7 in job creation and income growth, and in keeping debt levels low.
And more than one million net new jobs have been created in Canada since the global recession.
To continue this progress, we are committed to having a balanced budget by 2015.
And we will invest 70 billion dollars in federal, provincial, territorial and community infrastructure, as announced in Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2013, an investment that will help sustain our strong transportation system.
Conclusion
To prosper in today’s global economy and support international trade, we need safe and secure transportation networks that are also efficient and environmentally responsible.
I am proud to be given the opportunity to lead the department as it rises to meet these challenges.
Working with our partners, we aim to balance efficiency with safety and security.
I thank you all for the important contributions you and your colleagues already make in these matters.
And I Iook forward to working with many of you to maintain a safe and secure transportation system to connect Canadians and support our country.
Thank you.
