The AG report found that while there have been modest improvements, Transport Canada’s audits of Safety Management Systems [SMS]—the centrepiece of its safety oversight regime since it was introduced 20 years ago— focused on whether a company’s SMS complied with regulatory requirements, checking off the regulatory boxes: not whether these systems were effective— namely whether they improve safety i.e. reduces the risk of accidents. In the press conference, Auditor General Karen Hogan called the Department’s failure to assess the effectiveness of SMS “a big loophole.”
AG Hogan’s press statement accompanying the release read in part: “Transport Canada has taken some actions to address our recommendations; 8 years after our last audit, there is still much left to do to improve the oversight of rail safety in Canada…[This along with the other audits released] need to be resolved permanently, and soon.”
This echoed the conclusion of the previous AG rail safety report in 2013: “Transport Canada does not have the assurance it needs that federal railways have implemented adequate and effective safety management systems.”
The primordial responsibility to protect the public rests with government. The Corporation’s overarching mandate is to maximize shareholder value; when they conflict, safety becomes compromised. The railways have had the upper hand for far too long. The power relationship must be rebalanced. The regulator’s deferential relationship toward the industry that currently exists must shift to one of necessary tension.
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