MVTA amendments would legislate federal safety rating standards

OTTAWA (Feb. 5, 2001) — Transport Minister David Collenette re-introduced amendments to the Motor Vehicle Transport Act in the Senate designed to create federal standards for provincial motor carrier safety ratings programs.

The bill had been tabled in the previous session of Parliament, but died when the federal election was called last fall.

The amendments would require each province to develop and maintain a carrier profile system based on National Safety Code Standard 14. The system would have to be capable of producing comparable ratings for comparable performance no matter where a carrier is based.

Some provinces are better prepared to comply than others. Ottawa could nullify a province’s ability to issue safety certificates to extra-provincial carriers if it fails to have a safety ratings regime in place when the revised MVTA takes effect. Without a safety certificate, a trucking company would be legally restricted from operating outside its home province. Ottawa also distributes funds among the provinces each year to pay for NSC programs, and would likely link any future money to compliance with a revised MVTA.

Ontario and Quebec, which have jurisdiction over about 75% of all commercial trucks and buses in Canada, have established carrier profile systems.

The amendments also would allow Canada to enter into arrangements with other countries for reciprocal recognition of ratings and standards