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News Release

Western Canada focus of Canadian Transportation Agency's 2004 centennial-year Annual Report

OTTAWA - May 31, 2005 - The Canadian Transportation Agency has released its latest Annual Report to Parliament describing its various activities, including its 3,500 rulings made during 2004, which was the organization's centennial year. The report, tabled in Parliament by Transport Minister Jean-C. Lapierre, is available on the Agency's Web site at www.cta.gc.ca.

"In 2004 the Agency marked a century of service to Canadians that began on February 1, 1904, when Parliament created the Board of Railway Commissioners, the first independent regulatory body of what was then Canada's Dominion government," noted Marian L. Robson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Agency.

The past year saw the Agency focus on the serious shortfall in Western rail and port capacity, the acquisition of BC Rail by Canadian National Railways (CN) and grain handling and transportation issues on the Prairies.

With respect to the proposed transfer of the Government of Canada's hopper car fleet, the Agency prepared a report assessing its potential impact on the Western grain revenue caps imposed on CN and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). On a related issue, the Agency determined, for the first time, that CP had exceeded its revenue cap for crop year 2003-04.

In the marine sector, the Agency investigated and rejected allegations that a tariff increase proposed by the Laurentian Pilotage Authority was prejudicial to the public interest. The Agency also made improvements to its process for handling coasting trade applications for the use of foreign vessels in Canadian waters and held ongoing discussions with interveners from Atlantic Canada's burgeoning offshore oil and gas exploration sector.

The Agency's air travel complaints program, which has received more than 8,000 complaints since July 2000, handled 1,100 such cases in 2004. Total complaints were up four per cent last year over 2003. Some 2,400 separate issues were raised by the complainants.

Although the 2004 annual report includes information about air travel complaints, more details on the Agency's work in this field can be found in its Air Travel Complaints Report for the period January to June 2004.

During the course of the year, the Agency maintained contact with Air Canada as the airline worked out its restructuring plan and eventually determined that the new parent company, ACE Aviation Holdings, met the legal requirements for Canadian ownership and control.

The Air Canada situation also had an impact in the accessible transportation field, where several temporarily stayed or delayed cases were reactivated by the Agency when the company emerged from court-ordered creditor protection in September. The Agency also issued a voluntary code of practice intended to remove communication barriers for persons with disabilities who use air, rail and marine passenger transportation services. This is the fourth such code issued by the Agency under its accessible transportation mandate.

The Agency's mediation program continues to post significant increases in the number of cases referred to it. From 20 in 2002, the mediation case load rose to 29 in 2003 and reached 39 in 2004. This alternative dispute resolution method, which is available in the rail, marine and accessible transportation areas, boasts a 90 per cent success rate.

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:

Craig M. Lee
Director, Communications
(819) 953-7666

This annual report is available in multiple formats on request.

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