Bill C-615

3rd Session, 40th Parliament,

59 Elizabeth II, 2010-2011

house of commons of canada

BILL C-615

An Act to establish a National Public Transit Strategy

Whereas Canada’s future sustainable development is dependent on public transit;

Whereas fast, affordable and accessible public transit is vital to the movement of people in cities and communities and has immeasurable social, environmental, economic and health benefits;

Whereas public transit plays a central role in urban and metropolitan regions by contributing to cleaner air, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, lessening congestion and reducing the pressure for more roads;

Whereas investments in public transit infrastructure benefit the people of Canada by creating thousands of new jobs and revitalizing local economies;

And whereas better public transit results in cleaner and more productive cities and communities in which people can access the jobs and services that are needed for economic growth;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the National Public Transit Strategy Act.

GENERAL

2. The purpose of this Act is to establish a national strategy to provide public transit that is fast, affordable and accessible.

3. Recognizing the unique nature of the jurisdiction of the Government of Quebec with regard to public transit, and despite any other provision of this Act, the Government of Quebec may choose to be exempted from the application of this Act and must, if it chooses to do so, receive an unconditional payment of the full federal funding that would otherwise be paid within its territory under section 4.

NATIONAL PUBLIC TRANSIT STRATEGY

4. The Minister of Transport shall, in consultation with the provincial ministers responsible for public transit and with representatives of municipalities, transit authorities and Aborig- inal communities, establish a national public transit strategy designed to

(a) encompass the following goals:

(i) increase access to and use of public transit through support for service and affordability meas­ures,

(ii) improve the economic competitiveness of Canadian cities and communities,

(iii) enhance the quality of life, and

(iv) reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality; and

(b) accomplish the following measures:

(i) provide a permanent investment plan to support public transit that places it at the centre of all Canadian cities and communities,

(ii) establish federal funding mechanisms to ensure the financial health of the operation of public transit systems and to meet the capital needs of public transit systems, including the rehabilitation and renewal of existing infrastructure and the expanding capacity to respond to increasing public transit needs,

(iii) work together with provincial and municipal governments, as well as with transit authorities to provide sustainable, predictable and adequate funding,

(iv) provide a leadership role to align, on a national basis, public transit visions, planning goals, project justification, construction time frames and budgets,

(v) direct research to identify innovation in sustainable public transit technologies, to develop policy approaches to increase access to and use of public transit and to promote information sharing among public transit systems in Canada, and

(vi) establish accountability measures to ensure that all governments work together to increase public transit use.

5. (1) The Minister of Transport, in consultation with the provincial ministers responsible for public transit and with representatives of municipalities, transit authorities and Aborig- inal communities, shall encourage and promote a coordinated approach to the implementation of the national public transit strategy and may provide advice and assistance in the development and implementation of programs and practices in support of that strategy.

(2) The Minister of Transport, in cooperation with the provincial ministers responsible for public transit and with representatives of municipalities, transit authorities and Aboriginal communities, may take any measures that the Minister considers appropriate to implement the national public transit strategy as quickly as possible.

6. The Minister of Transport shall, within 180 days after the coming into force of this Act, convene a conference of the provincial ministers responsible for public transit and of representatives of municipalities, transit authorities and Aboriginal communities in order to

(a) develop funding mechanisms for the national public transit strategy and programs to carry it out;

(b) set targets for the commencement of the programs referred to in paragraph (a); and

(c) develop the principles of an agreement between the federal and provincial governments and representatives of the municipal- ities and Aboriginal communities for the development and delivery of the programs referred to in paragraph (a).

REPORT TO PARLIAMENT

7. The Minister of Transport shall cause a report on the conference described in section 6, including the matters referred to in paragraphs 6(a) to (c), to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first five days that the House is sitting following the expiration of 180 days after the end of the conference.