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The
Hill Times
| Monday Nov. 20, 2000 | BACK
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Collenette
says more money needed for infrasture by Angelo
Persichilli
The Hill Times
The Hill Times: Mr. Collenette, what’s
the major challenge for the transportation sector in Canada?
Transportation Minister David Collenette: “The bigger challenge is
to make use of the new technology to improve the flow of goods and passengers.
The communications revolution is something that we have to deal with, and the
government is putting a lot of money into that endeavour. However, it
doesn’t matter how much you’re on-line, or, how much a wired society you
are, you still need the delivery mechanism to get goods to the market, to
deliver people from A to B and that’s why we have to invest a lot in our
infrastructure; and, that’s what we have been doing with our infrastructure
program which is now being signed and we hope to put more money into the
national highway system.”
Hill Times: Which is the major concern you have in engaging in that
endeavour?
Mr. Collenette: “One concern that I have is getting the federal
spending power to help the municipalities overcome a lot of their problems,
including transportation. I believe that we have to make some tough choices in
a big city like Toronto.”
Hill Times: Like what?
Mr. Collenette: “More road building is not the answer. We have to
invest massively in public transit, we must have fast-only lanes, and we have
to extend the streetcar network further into the suburbs. It’s tragic that
we have one of the world’s best streetcar systems, but it only operates in
the old city of Toronto; it doesn’t even operate in the former city of
Scarborough. We have to invest heavily in go transit and make investments in
Toronto by-pass or at least a rail line that goes around Highway 7 area or the
407 corridor.”
Hill Times: What about air transportation?
Mr. Collenette: “The airline [sector] is going well. Air Canada has
had real problems in the integration of the workforce and the computer system
but they are solving them.”
Hill Times: Are they going to make it?
Mr. Collenette: “Oh, yes. It’s very important that they will get
all the work done before the Christmas rush. There was a lot of inconveniences
this summer. Some were due to issues and mistakes that they made or because of
severe weather or thunderstorms, or partly because there were more people
flying than anticipated, I believe that people understood but now there are no
excuses if this happens again over the Christmas season. The good side is that
there is a lot more competition that is coming a lot faster than it was
anticipated, with companies serving not just the big cities but also small
airlines. I am very optimistic that the kind of competition that Air Canada
requires is actually developing.”
Hill Times: Which is the major problem to cope with in dealing with
technological changes: lack of money or expertise?
Mr. Collenette: “One of the problems we have got right now, as a
society, is that the economy is doing so well and there is a skill shortage in
a number of areas.”
Hill Times: How are you going to tackle those concerns?
Mr. Collenette: “I think that we have to increase training and
immigration.”
Hill Times: How is Canada doing, in this regard, at the present time?
Mr. Collenette: “We are among the leaders in the world. We are the
leader in the air system, the navigation system, air cargo, air-freight. We
are the experts on rail.”
Hill Times: Where do you see problems?
Mr. Collenette: “Where we can learn a lot is in improving the
passenger train service, go transit has to expand and the infrastructure
program for Via Rail. I thing that we must have Renaissance in water
transportation, we must have better use of the Great Lakes, we have to have a
greater partnership with trucking companies, the railways and the shipping
companies. Trucks in certain areas like the corridor become distribution
mechanisms and log haul loads go on rail or on water to alleviate the load on
highways like the 401. We need better planning.”
Hill Times: Air, water, rail and ground: of the four of these
transportation sectors, which one is coping better with changing technology?
Mr. Collenette: “The area that is really growing in the last four
years is in the trucking side. But the trucking side has a problem now. There
is a shortage of qualified drivers, trucking companies just cannot get people
to do the driving. The United States has the same problem. And this makes the
alliance with rail more attractive. New technologies like the global
positioning system are used by trucking companies; rail is doing well because
they increased efficiencies, rationalized their operations. The shipping
industry needs government encouragement to try to get loads back on the water.
The port of Toronto, which many people were writing off a few years ago, now
has a surplus that is going to double within the next five years. There are
already a thousand of direct or indirect jobs associated with the Toronto
Port.”
Hill Times: If the Toronto Port is doing so well why is there a
possibility that it will be closed?
Mr. Collenette: “Closure is only one option, another one is
relocation.”
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