Watchdogs Refute Multiple Claims of Transport Canada in Wake of Lac-Mégantic

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

Canada: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…

Two federal government watchdogs have refuted claims of Transport Canada regarding safety and oversight of transportation of dangerous goods. The federal auditor general has already categorically rejected all claims asserting that it granted any extension to the department’s commitments on improving the oversight of transportation of dangerous products in response to a 2011 audit.

Meanwhile, the federal budget watchdog also published another report revealing preliminary figures showing that Transport Canada failed to spend millions of dollars it had originally set aside in last year’s budget to promote rail safety. It was also exposed that the government under-spent the budgets promoting safety in the other modes of transportation, i.e. air, water and roads. The report suggested that, in accordance to the amount allocated in the federal budget, Transport Canada only spent 64% of about $37 million budgeted for rail safety in 2012-2013. On the other hand, it was revealed the government fully spent the $12.7 million Transport Canada budget set aside for transportation of dangerous goods.

The report also pointed only an area where Transport Canada overspent in 2012-2013, i.e. “internal services.” It was revealed that the department ended up exceeding its $168 million budget for “internal services,” as it eventually spent a total of $192 million in this category. Upon inquiry from the government’s Treasury Board Secretariat, it was clarified that “internal services” takes into account a wide range of administrative services including legal, human resources and technology support services as well as communications or public relations.