Report reveals cracks in the pavement at Transport Canada

OTTAWA — Transport Canada’s ability to manage federal investments in highways is as deficient as many highways themselves, according to a government report tabled yesterday in the House of Commons.

The study, conducted for Auditor General Denis Desautels, leveled criticisms ranging from providing flawed information to decision-makers to failure to exercise controls in negotiated agreements with the provinces and territories.
The department also has not fully respected its environmental responsibilities for highway projects, the report said.

Over the past decade, Transport Canada has invested $1.6 billion in highway improvements. Spending by the department on highways is expected to average at least $150 million a year until 2001, and roughly $60 million a year thereafter until 2003.

The report trained an especially harsh spotlight on 24 multi-year cost-sharing agreements with the provinces and territories under Transport Canada’s various highway investment programs, which combined averaged more than $200 million a year during the past five years.

“The programs themselves have been managed and administered more like grant programs than the contribution programs they are,” the report said. The latter require that funding be conditional on performance and on compliance with provisions of an applicable agreement.

The report draws several other conclusions:

> Transport Canada still has not developed a position on the treatment of tolls put in place by certain provinces.

> The department supplied inaccurate information to the government on the condition of roads and the cost to upgrade them in justifying its request for $200 million in additional funding.

> There is no prioritization of projects. Transport Canada does not even collect information on dangerous segments of highways as one element to consider in deciding which projects to fund.

> Payments had been made before the required environmental assessments were completed. Further, the audit could not conclude whether the Department had fulfilled its environmental responsibilities because of its lax screening procedures and lack of documentation.

“Transport Canada is at a crossroads,” the report concluded. “There has been some pressure by the provinces for the federal government to renew or confirm its position on highway investments. The Minister of Transport has said that the existing national highway policy needs to be updated. Transport Canada needs to re-examine the National Highway Transportation Policy and make recommendations to the government as appropriate.”

The report, entitled “Transport Canada: Investment in Highways” is available on the Office of the Auditor General Web site.