What Is Canada's National Transportation Policy?

In 1994, Transport Canada outlined a new vision for transportation in Canada.Regulation and subsidies would be phased out in favour of a more market-oriented approach based on deregulation, privatization, and commercialization.Have distortions been eliminated in the freight marketplace?Not entirely.For example, Transport Canada has stated that the Government will fund operating costs of the Seaway when traffic volumes are low, as well as major Seaway asset rehabilitation.Trucking is subsidized through publicly funded infrastructure.Even if there were a level playing field in terms of direct government support, the marketplace currently does not price the full external costs of accidents and pollution.This lack of full cost-accounting favours the modes with the highest external cost.An optimum freight transport system would minimize total costs, including external costs, by reflecting the total costs in market prices.In reality, this will be tempered by competitive conditions of the continental market.Canada needs a comparative analysis and harmonization of U.S. and Canadian transport legislation, regulation, policies, taxes, and subsidies.It needs to work together with our NAFTA partners for a continental transportation policy based on a level playing field for each mode among the countries and within each country. Historical DevelopmentGovernments played an important role in developing Canada s infrastructure, starting with the Lachine Canal in the early 19th century.Governments provided loans, loan guarantees, subsidies, grants, and franchises or charters to encourage the development of private railways.Governments were also directly involved in building and operating road, marine, and airport infrastructure and the marine and air navigation support systems.