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Moving Forward - Message from the Minister

I am pleased to present Moving Forward - Changing the safety and security culture - A strategic direction for safety and security management, which outlines the direction we must take to make progress on changing the safety and security culture. Moving Forward will guide us as we apply safety and security management in our day-to-day transportation activities.

Safety and security management requires that we change the way we all do business - from safety and security at the operations level to a systems-wide approach. To do this Transport Canada is building upon its existing regulatory frameworks and focusing on risk management practices. Transport Canada sees safety and security management systems as a big part of the solution.

The shift to managing safety and security represents a major cultural shift for many organizations. Managing safety and security means identifying and mitigating risks and threats before occurrences happen. Small problems are fixed before they turn into big ones. Isolated issues are explored to see if they are systemic. It is a shift from looking at components to managing the risks and threats of the system.

Many of the concepts presented in Moving Forward are not new. What is important to note is that different sectors of industry are in various phases of studying, adopting and implementing safety and security management systems. What is new is the recognition that what is required is a change - a cultural change - in the practices of everyone involved in transportation activities.

By working in partnership with transportation stakeholders towards our common goal of a safe, secure, efficient and sustainable transportation system, we can move forward together from vision to reality.

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities